Katie
by Belle Walker
Summary: Sara and Grissom are reunited with a girl from their past. GSR. Alternate universe/timeline; takes place after Season 3.
1. Prologue & Chapter 1

**Prologue**

"What are you doing?"

The girl froze at the hushed voice behind her. "Go back to sleep, Amy," she whispered back.

"Are you running away? They'll catch you, Katie!"

"Not if I'm fast enough," the first girl answered determinedly. Using her stolen butter knife, she pried the last nail out of the board that covered the obsolete laundry chute in the bathroom wall.

The dirt and grime surrounding the splintery board kept it glued firmly to the wall.

A soft shuffle of footsteps sounded from around the corner.

"Someone's coming!" Amy whispered anxiously. "You're gonna get caught!"

"Shush!" Katie scraped at the grime around the edges of the board. "I'll get caught anyway if you don't be quiet!"

"I'm sorry," Amy whimpered.

"Help me," Katie commanded. "I can't get the board loose."

Swallowing back another scared whimper, Amy pulled one edge while Katie pulled the other.

The board came off and crashed to the floor.

Wide eyed with fright, the two girls dared not breathe as they waited to be discovered and then punished.

When no one appeared to investigate the noise, they breathed a sigh of relief.

"Where you planning on going anyway?" Amy asked in curiosity. "Orphans like us don't have families."

"I'm _not _an orphan!" Katie corrected.

"Not an orphan?" Amy echoed mockingly. "Then whatcha doing in the orphanage?"

Noting the swift change in her roommate's mood, Katie realized with dread that Amy's other personality was quickly surfacing.

The evil personality...the one obsessed with fire.

Katie provided the other girl with no response. Desperate to escape the nightmare she was living, she took a deep breath and scooted, feet first, into the laundry chute. "Do me a favor and cover the hole?"

Amy bit her lip, undecided as to whether she wanted to help her roommate, or betray her.

"Please?" Katie pleaded.

Amy narrowed her eyes. "Maybe."

Katie didn't stick around to find out the answer. She shimmied down the laundry chute, thankful that the basement was only one level below her room.

She landed on her feet, brushing part of a spider web off her arm. After making sure the wad of hard-earned cash was still safe in her pocket, Katie searched for a way out.

She picked up an empty wooden crate, nearly dropping it when a mouse scurried across her shoe.

"Get a grip," Katie told herself, letting out a slow breath. She set the crate under a dirty window and stepped up, testing the integrity of the wood.

The crate squeaked a little, but held the girl's weight.

Hopping down from her makeshift ladder, Katie then looked around for something with which to break the window.

A discarded pipe did the trick, and soon the youth was on the other side of the freshly shattered window, ducking into the shadows.

The sun was just starting to rise as she followed the old dirt road into town. The first place she stopped at was a small, run-down Food Mart.

Katie brushed the dirt off her clothes and combed her fingers through her hair, attempting to look presentable.

She entered the Food Mart as casually and inconspicuously as possible. Her stomach growled as she eyed the shelf of chocolate bars.

Choosing a Butterfinger bar, she went to the register to pay.

"Can you tell me where the bus station is?" Katie inquired of the lady behind the counter.

The cashier, looking to be of the grandmotherly sort, gave her a yellow-toothed smile and answered, "It's at the other end of town, sweetie. Out that-a-way."

Katie looked where the woman was pointing. "That direction?" she clarified, praying it was the truth.

"Yep. Probably not open this time of morning, though."

"Thank you." Katie collected her change and exited the Food Mart, munching on her delicious candy bar and heading for the bus station.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"Excuse me, mister."

The man looked down at the young girl who addressed him. "Hi there. Can I help you?"

The girl tucked a dark curl behind her ear. "I'm looking for Sara Sidle."

The man smiled. "So am I. Would you like to help me find her?"

The girl regarded him a moment. He seemed like a good guy. She nodded. "Okay."

They walked side by side down a corridor.

"My name is Nick," the man said.

"I'm Katie," the girl answered politely.

"Nice to meet you, Katie," Nick said with a smile. He wondered exactly who Katie was, and why she was looking for Sara.

Nick spotted Sara coming out of the DNA lab, with a smirk on her face and her hands on her hips.

"Page me when those results are in, Greg," Sara said over her shoulder.

"Don't I always?" Greg answered back with a cheeky grin.

"Hey, Sara!" Nick hollered.

Sara looked up when she heard her name. Turning around, she saw Nick. "Hey," she answered back.

Nick opened his mouth to give Sara a rundown of their current case information, when he suddenly witnessed the most unbelievable event.

The young girl beside him stopped dead in her tracks, her startlingly green eyes wide in recognition of the woman.

"Mom!" Katie shouted, launching herself at Sara.

Sara was numb with shock. "Katie? Oh my god! Katie!" Her heart pounded furiously as she dropped to her knees and drew the young girl into her embrace.

Katie clung to Sara, wrapping small arms tightly around her neck. Her thick, dark hair bounced with each tremble that passed through her slight frame. "I missed you, Mommy," she sobbed in a desperate whisper.

Sara felt faint as she brushed Katie's dark curls aside to look at her wet, tear-streaked face. "Katie, honey, what are you doing here? How did you get here?"

Katie pulled away just enough to wipe away her tears. Her bright green eyes looked up at Sara. "I ran away. They hate me there!" Fresh tears came forth, and she buried her face against Sara's shirt again.

"Oh honey," Sara whispered, tears springing to her eyes. She wrapped her arms tighter around the girl's narrow shoulders and rubbed her back. "I thought you were gone forever!"

Katie sniffled loudly. "I couldn't stay there anymore! I just couldn't!"

Sara gently brushed Katie's tears away and looked up at Nick. He had witnessed the entire incident, and was now looking at Sara like she'd grown another head.

"Uh, Nick...I'll catch up with you, okay?" Sara stood up, not waiting for an answer. With an arm around Katie's shoulders, she led the child to the nearby break room and shut the door.

Nick snapped out of his daze. He tried to make his feet move, but they wouldn't.

He leaned heavily against the wall, his mind racing. Sara was a mom? Why had she kept that a secret?

Unaware of just how long he had been standing there, Nick's thoughts were interrupted by Grissom approaching with Catherine and Warrick in tow.

"Hey, Nick. You seen Sara?" Grissom questioned.

"Yeah. She's in the break room," Nick answered.

"Thanks." Grissom continued on towards the break room.

Nick suddenly remembered who had entered the break room previously. "Oh, Grissom! Wait!"

Grissom paid no attention. He opened the door and stopped abruptly.

Catherine, Nick, and Warrick nearly crashed into him, but he didn't even notice. His eyes were glued to the two females on the couch.

Sara resided on one end of the couch.

Katie was curled into a ball on her side, with her eyes closed and her head on Sara's lap.

Sara wiped at the tear streaks on her own face and silently stroked Katie's hair with her fingers.

Grissom suddenly felt like someone was squeezing the air out of his lungs. He took a step inside the room, and gasped, "Katie!"

Nick thought he was shocked before. He was completely unprepared for when Katie opened her eyes.

"Dad?" She sat up quickly, rubbed a fist over her eyes, and looked again. "Dad!" She shot up off the couch like a rocket.

Grissom's trembling arms held the young girl gently but firmly. "My god! Honey, I thought I'd never see you again," he whispered into her hair.

Nick, Catherine and Warrick stared at them, dumbfounded.

Grissom raised tear-filled eyes to Sara, who gave him a shaky smile. "Sara, what's she doing here?"

Sara stood and walked over to them. She ran her fingers through Katie's soft curls. "Grissom, we need to talk."

Grissom nodded numbly. He spoke to the three behind him, but kept his eyes on Sara. "Could you give us a few minutes, guys?"

"Yeah," Catherine was the first to recover, and answered for them. "Sure." She stepped into the hallway, dragging Warrick and Nick with her.

Nick closed the door behind him.

They watched through the door window in absolute shock.

Grissom guided Sara and Katie back to the couch, where they sat down with Katie between them.

Sara said something to Grissom, and fresh tears cascaded down her cheeks.

Grissom reached a hand up and cupped her cheek, his thumb gently brushing the tears away.

"What's going on here?" Catherine demanded. "Grissom has a daughter?"

"It seems that way," Warrick said gravely. "How come he never told us?"

"How come Sara knows her?" Catherine countered.

Nick watched Grissom and Sara for a minute. "Well...I think I know why Sara knows her."

Two pairs of eyes swung around to look at him.

Nick looked from Catherine to Warrick. "Not only did she call Grissom 'Dad'...but that girl also called Sara 'Mom'."

"What!"

"When?"

Nick told them about their reunion in the hallway. "We knew they shared a past," he added. "But I never imagined they shared a kid."

Catherine exhaled heavily and leaned into Warrick, who absently slipped a supportive arm around her shoulders.

Nick once again propped himself up against the wall.

Ten minutes later, the door opened and Grissom came out cradling a very sleepy-eyed child in his arms.

Sara appeared next to him, smoothing a few curls away from Katie's eyes. She addressed her colleagues, whom Grissom seemed to totally ignore. "Um, we're taking Katie to Grissom's office where she can take a nap. I guess we'll talk when we get back."


	2. Chapter 2

Grissom laid Katie down on the small couch, then stepped back to let Sara cover her with a coat from his coat rack.  

Sara's dormant parenting skills quickly rose to the surface.  "Are you thirsty?" she asked Katie.  "Or hungry?"

Katie yawned and shook her head, her dark curls bouncing.  "I'm just sleepy," she mumbled.

"Okay."  Sara caressed the child's cheek lovingly.  "Sleep as long as you want, sweetheart.  I'll be back in a little while."

"Mmm hmm."  Katie's eyes closed and she drifted off into dreamland.

Sara followed Grissom to the door and turned off the light.  She paused, taking one more look at the child sleeping on the brown leather couch.  

Sara drew in a shaky breath and softly pulled the door shut.

"I'll meet you back in the break room," Sara told Grissom before pushing open the bathroom door.  She grabbed a wad of tissue to blow her nose on, and caught sight of her reflection, appalled by what she saw in the mirror.  

"Yuck."  Sara splashed cold water on her face, scrubbing away the trails of mascara and dried tears.  

Taking a deep breath, she exited the rest room and nervously approached the break room.  

All eyes were on her as she came in.  

Feeling like a suspect being held for questioning, Sara sought refuge in a chair next to Grissom at the table.

Nick shifted around uneasily in his seat.  He had so many questions that he didn't even know where to start.

Warrick opened his mouth as if to say something, then changed his mind and closed it.

Catherine got right to the point.  "Why didn't you tell us you two have a daughter?"

"We don't," Grissom answered simply, calmly.

Catherine gaped at him.  "You _don't_?  Gil, have you lost your marbles?  That girl called you 'Dad'.  And Nick said she called Sara 'Mom'.  Label me crazy, but usually when a kid calls you 'Mom' or 'Dad', it's because you _are!_"

"Catherine," Sara said.  "Back off."  Her voice was low, but forceful.  

Catherine shut her mouth.

Grissom put a hand on Sara's arm.  "Do you want me to tell them?"

Sara shook her head slightly.  "No.  Let me."  She took a deep breath and faced her colleagues.

"Katie's full name is Katalina Alexia Sidle.  She isn't really Grissom's daughter," Sara explained.  "In fact, she's not even mine.  Katie's actually my second cousin."

"Cousin?  But she called you 'Mom'," Nick interrupted.

"Katie always knew that I didn't give birth to her, Nicky," Sara told him.  "But I'm the only mother she has ever known.  Her real mother was a cousin of mine.  She, uh........she committed suicide shortly after Katie was born.  Nobody knows who the father is, or was.  All I know is that he was creepy and Italian."  

At the questioning looks she received, Sara elaborated on her last statement.  "I saw him once or twice, but I never did know his name.  Um, anyway, my aunt and uncle —— Katie's grandparents —— raised her from infancy until she was about, uh, two years old.  They never really loved her.  She was just a thorn in their side.....a reminder of their dead daughter.  So when my uncle had a heart attack, they decided they were just too old to raise a child again.  I was the only relative willing to take Katie."  

"They didn't even want their own grandchild?" Warrick asked in disbelief.  "That's awful!"

Sara continued.  "I raised Katie for six years.  I was a mother to her for six whole years!"  Sara's voice wavered at this last statement.

Grissom impulsively reached over and wrapped his fingers around hers.

Sara drew strength from Grissom's comforting touch.  "I brought Katie into my home about the same time I met Grissom, at a seminar in San Francisco.  We became friends almost immediately.  Over the years, Griss would visit us often, driving back and forth from Las Vegas to 'Frisco.  Katie grew quite attached to him."

"The feeling was mutual," Grissom said quietly.  "I adored that kid."

"I can still remember that day she asked if she could call you 'Dad'," Sara told Grissom.  She smiled at the memory.  "When you put together her swing set, but couldn't get the swings the same length."

Grissom chuckled.  "It took me an hour of adjusting before those swings were the right height for a five-year-old."

Sara absently played with Grissom's fingers.  "She loved that swing set."

"So, what happened?" Warrick questioned.  "Why isn't Katie still living with you?"

Sara took a deep breath and answered the question.  "People interfered.  Where they had no right to interfere.  Not long after she turned eight, Katie's grandparents suddenly decided that she and I would both be better off if she were sent to an orphanage.  They told me I was too young to be ruining my life by raising a child that wasn't even mine."  

She gave a humorless laugh and added, "I was twenty-two when I took Katie home with me.  I had just barely finished college then."  Sara shrugged a shoulder in thought.  "I guess I was awfully young, but I was certainly old enough to love Katie like she was my own.  But my aunt and uncle didn't care.  One day, they just came to my house and took her."

"But they gave her up!" Nick exclaimed.  "How could they just take her away again?"

"It was all perfectly legal, since they never actually renounced their guardianship rights.  It didn't matter to the courts.  They didn't care that Katie was in a stable, loving home.  They didn't care that they were ripping her away from the only ones who ever loved her.  All they cared about was that horrid piece of paper saying I wasn't Katie's legal guardian."  Sara felt new tears threatening to appear.  She took another deep breath to calm herself down.

"It nearly killed me when they took her away.  They wouldn't let me talk to her.  They wouldn't tell me where she was, or if she was okay.  Grissom tried to help me as best as he could.......but nothing worked.  Everything in San Francisco reminded me of Katie.  Every tree, every building, every kid I'd see on the sidewalk....." Sara broke off, hearing her voice start to crack.

She let go of Grissom's hand long enough to take a sip from a bottle of water Nick handed her.  "Thanks."  Sara slowly screwed the cap back onto the bottle.  "I finally decided I had to get away from San Francisco.  That's part of the reason why I'm here now.  I needed to go somewhere that didn't hold any memories."

Nick, Catherine, and Warrick speechlessly nodded their agreement.  

Grissom reassuringly rubbed his fingers lightly over Sara's knuckles, studying her face in concern.

"Grissom's last phone call saved my life.  When he asked me to come to Vegas to investigate the Holly Gribbs case, I jumped at the chance.  So about a month after Katie was gone, I got on a plane headed to Las Vegas."

"How did you ever survive that?" Catherine asked.  She was crying now too.  "Losing a child, and then suddenly moving away?"

Sara gave her a wry smile.  "I guess you could say I buried myself in this job.  Every minute I worked was a minute that I wouldn't be thinking of her.  I know it probably sounds pretty cold, but that was the only way I knew how to survive."

"Four years ago, huh?"  Nick was thinking out loud.  "So Katie's twelve now?  How did she find you after four years?"

Sara smiled.  "Katie's a smart kid.  Very clever.......resourceful.  She told us that a couple of weeks ago, she got ahold of a California phone book and called the San Francisco Crime Lab, where I used to work.  She somehow conned my former boss into telling her where I transferred to."

Up until now, Grissom had been silent.  But now he continued the explanation.  "She sold what little belongings she had, and saved up the money.  All orphanage kids between the ages of six and sixteen are required by law to attend a school of some sort.  All the Montana school terms ended just a few days ago.  So first chance she got, Katie snuck out of the orphanage, and bought a bus ticket from where she was in Montana to Las Vegas."

Sara finished, "She walked all the way here from the bus station."

"That's five miles!" Warrick protested.  "That's a long way to walk, especially for a kid!"

"She held out until school ended," Nick marveled.  "She obviously values her education.  If it were me, I would have run away first chance I got.  School or not."

Grissom gave Sara a little smile.  "Sara used to drill into her brain the importance of education.  Plus, Katie's got that Sidle stubborn streak.  When she puts her mind to something, there's no talking her out of it."

"Sounds a lot like some people I know," Catherine teased lightly.

Grissom ignored her, and glanced up at the clock.  "We need to get back to work before we get in trouble.  Shift ends in thirty minutes, and we still have things to do."

"I need to go check on Katie," Sara said to Grissom.  "I don't want to leave her by herself for too long."

"I'm coming with you," Grissom answered.  

They all stood up from the table.  

Nick, Catherine, and Warrick offered Sara a hug.  

Then Catherine hugged Grissom, and the guys gave him a manly pat on the shoulder.

Grissom and Sara walked side by side down the corridor.  

"She's a runaway, Grissom," Sara said in a low, somewhat shaky voice.  "They're going to look for her.  They're going to find her and take her back.  I don't think I can handle her being taken away again."

"Hey."  Grissom squeezed her shoulder.  "It'll be okay.  They couldn't possibly think to look in Las Vegas.  Everything will work out.  I promise."

Sara sniffled, looking down at the floor.  A lock of hair drifted near her face, obscuring Grissom's view of her brown eyes.  "You can't promise that, Grissom.  Nobody can."

"No," Grissom agreed, brushing the lock of hair behind Sara's ear.  "But I can try.  And I will promise to help you, Sara.  You won't be alone.  Neither of you will."

Sara chuckled, rubbing the tears from her eyes.  "You're always rescuing me, Grissom.  First, when I got Katie, then when I lost her, and now you're rescuing me again.  I'll owe you for the next millennium."

"You don't owe me anything, Sara," Grissom said softly.  "Katie was partially mine for six years, too.  I love her every bit as much as you do."

Sara nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat.  She pushed open the door of Grissom's office and peeked inside.  

The light was still off, but Sara could tell that the couch against the wall was unoccupied.

Sara felt her heart nearly stop beating in her chest as she looked at Grissom.

Grissom's throat tightened.  "Katie?"  He stepped inside.  "Honey, are you in here?"

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm here," a voice said.  Katie emerged from a shadowy corner of Grissom's office.  

Sara breathed a sigh of relief as she embraced the young girl.  "I was afraid you were gone again."

"I'm sorry," Katie said sheepishly.  "I didn't mean to worry you."  She let go of Sara and hugged Grissom.  "I was making friends with Dad's tarantula."

Grissom grinned down at Katie.  "You like Murray, huh?"

Katie gave a dimpled smile.  "I like spiders."

"Smart girl."

Katie giggled, then grew serious.  "Are you mad at me for running away from the orphanage?"

"No, sweetie," Sara answered with a tender smile.  "We're not mad at you.  But you have to understand that was a very dangerous thing to do."

"I know," Katie said, looking at her feet.  "It _was_ dangerous.  And scary.  But all I could think about was finding you.  Mom, I don't ever want to go back there!  That place is awful!"

Grissom sat down on the couch, and Katie was at his side immediately.  "We're glad you did find us.  I promise I will do everything in my power to keep you with us.  We love you."

"I love you too," Katie replied.  She stifled an enormous yawn.  "Wow.  Excuse me!"

"Sara?" Grissom said, looking up at her.

"Yeah."

"Do you have a place for her to sleep?"  Grissom honestly didn't know if she had more than one bedroom.

Sara looked down in embarrassment.  "I have a spare bedroom, but it's full of boxes of junk.  I haven't cleaned it out since I moved here."

Grissom bit back a smirk.  He knew Sara had some pack-rat tendencies.  "Why don't you take Katie to my place?  She can sleep in my spare room, and then tomorrow we can figure out what to do," he suggested.  "I would come with you, but I have about an hour's worth of paperwork that was supposed to be done yesterday."

"Sure.  No problem," Sara said, thankful for his suggestion.  "Um, I need your house key then."

Grissom gave her the key, gave Katie one more hug, and then watched them disappear out the door.  "Hey, Sara?" he called.

Sara poked her head back in.  "Yeah, Griss?"

"It's gonna be okay."

Sara gave him a weak smile.  "I sure hope so."

*           *            *

"I left all my clothes behind," Katie explained.  "They had holes in them, and didn't fit me good anyway.  I'm wearing the best ones I had."

Sara felt nothing but hatred for her aunt and uncle.  What kind of awful place did they send her sweet Katie to?  _It's a wonder her toes weren't chewed off by rats, _she thought.  "That's okay, sweetheart.  We'll get you some nice clothes."  

Sara was hesitant about digging through Grissom's dresser drawers, but Katie needed something decent to wear to bed.  "Aha!"  She found a long, dark blue T-shirt and held it up.  "How's this to sleep in?"

Katie brought the fabric to her cheek.  "It's nice and soft.  Smells good too."  She put on the t-shirt and crawled into the bed.

Sara pulled the covers up to Katie's chin, kissed her forehead, then scooped up the discarded clothing.  "I'm going to throw these in the washing machine.  I'll be right back."

Katie yawned softly.  "Okay."

Sara tossed Katie's dirty clothes in the washer.  She added a few shirts Grissom had tossed on the floor, along with some laundry soap.  The washer hummed to life, and Sara headed back through the hallway.

In no time at all, Katie was sound asleep in Grissom's guest room.  Sara carefully sat down on the edge of the bed and watched her sleep.  

Katie looked so precious, so innocent.  

Sara reached out and fingered a curl that had tumbled onto the child's forehead.  She sat there a while longer, then wandered into the kitchen.  

Sara snooped through Grissom's refrigerator, grimacing at the blood experiment on the bottom shelf.  Selecting a bottle of water, she closed the fridge and went back to the living room.  

As she sat down cross-legged on the couch and took a sip of water, an old memory assaulted her heart.  

_Grissom carried a five-year-old Katie on his shoulders through a grassy park.  _

_"Look, Daddy," Katie said excitedly, pointing a small finger in the air.  "An orange butterfly."_

_"That's called a Monarch, Katie-bug," Grissom answered with a smile.  _

_"It's pretty!"_

Without warning, another memory replaced that one.  

Sara tearfully recalled the heartbreaking phone call she made to Grissom three years later, telling him that Katie was gone.

The sound of light tapping on the front door brought Sara out of her reverie.  She set her empty water bottle on the coffee table, peeked out the spy hole, and let Grissom in.

Grissom took in her tear-streaked face and resigned air.  "Are you okay?" 

Sara shook her head.  "No," she said quietly, sitting once more on the couch.  "I don't know what to do," she confessed.

"Me either," Grissom admitted.  He sighed heavily.  "I'm gonna talk to Brass tomorrow.  Maybe he can help me look into the legal matters.  Give us somewhere to start."

"I never imagined having a second chance with her," Sara said with a slow shake of her head, staring unseeing at the floor.  "I never dared to hope."

"Sara."  Grissom perched on the edge of the coffee table in front of her.  "Why don't you stay here tonight?"

She looked up, searching the blue depths of his eyes.  "Really?"

Grissom nodded.  "Katie came all this way to find you.  You need to be with her.  I'll take the couch.  You can use my room."

Sara shook her head.  "I'm not kicking you out of your room, Grissom.  That wouldn't be fair to you.  I'll stay with Katie."

"Okay," Grissom agreed.  "Um, we both get tomorrow off.  Catherine said she'd cover for us.  Maybe we can sort things out then."  He stood up, taking Sara's hands and pulling her up with him.  "Try to get some sleep, Sara."

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	4. Chapter 4

Grissom slowly opened the door to his guest room and peeked in, the sight before his eyes making him smile.  

Katie's tousled dark hair was just visible from under the edge of the blue comforter, at the head of the bed.  

Sara, still wearing her jeans and shirt from yesterday, was stretched out on her side on top of the comforter.  Her hair spilled out onto her pillow in soft waves and one arm was tossed protectively across Katie's back.

Grissom longed to run his fingers through Sara's chocolate-colored locks.  

Instead, he filed away the image in his memory and gently shut the door.

He went back to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee.  As Grissom watched the brown liquid drip into the pot, his mind wandered and he found himself in the past, on one of his visits to Sara's house.  

_"Did you find her?" Sara asked from the living room._

_"She's in the kitchen," he answered with a laugh.  "And it seems she found the cup of coffee you left on the counter."_

_Sara came into the kitchen, stopping short when she saw the displeased grimace on the six-year-old's face.  _

_"Icky!" Katie declared.  "That stuff's gross!"_

_Sara couldn't help laughing as she dumped the coffee into the sink.  "Well, it's **cold** coffee, and it isn't for little girls to drink anyway."_

"Hey."  

Grissom was brought back to the present time by Sara entering his kitchen, barefoot.  "Hi.  Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah," Sara answered, rubbing her eyes.  She accepted the cup of coffee Grissom offered her and took a few sips.  "You?"

Grissom sighed softly.  "Better than I thought I would."

Sara nodded, her eyes focused on her coffee.  "I better put Katie's clothes in the dryer.  I threw them in the washer yesterday."

"She needs some new clothes," Grissom said, mostly to himself.  "Nobody should have to wear rags like those."

Sara drank the rest of her coffee and rinsed the cup in the sink.  "I'm going to take her shopping today.......get her some nice outfits.  Something that fits."

"Have fun," Grissom said sincerely, squeezing her shoulder.  "I'm going to see if Brass can help us any.  Um, why don't you and Katie meet me at CSI, say, around two o'clock?  I'd like Brass to meet her, if you're okay with that?"

"Okay.  You leaving right now?" Sara questioned.

Grissom looked at his watch and nodded.  "I should.  No point in wasting time."

Sara offered him a half smile, folding her arms across her chest.  "We can only hope for the best."

Grissom returned the smile, and reached out to tuck a lock of hair behind Sara's ear.  "You were a wonderful mother, Sara.  You still are.  You and Katie both deserve to be happy."  With that, he set his cup in the sink and exited the kitchen, leaving Sara to stare after him.

Sara remembered the laundry, and went to throw it in the dryer.  Then she searched Grissom's kitchen and pantry for something a youth could eat for breakfast.  Not finding cereal or any other kid-friendly items, she decided to make some French toast.  

But first, Katie needed to get up and take a bath.  

Sara peeked into the bedroom.  

Katie was sprawled sideways across the mattress, the blankets tossed in a heap on the floor.  

With a grin, Sara knelt next to Katie's head.  "Wake up, sleepyhead," she whispered into Katie's ear.  

The corners of Katie's mouth twitched, but she remained still.

"I know you're awake," Sara tried again.  

A smile formed on the girl's face, but her eyes stayed closed.

Sara wickedly tickled her sides.  

Katie burst out laughing and grabbed Sara's hands.  "Okay!  Okay!  I'm awake!"

Sara pulled her hands free and tickled again.  "Awake isn't good enough.  You need to get up."

"Aww!"  Katie rolled away.  "I don't want to get up.  This bed is so comfy!"

Sara stood up and put her hands on her hips.  "More comfy than a nice, warm bubble bath?"

"Bubble bath?  Ooooh!"  Katie jumped off the bed and darted into the bathroom.

"Don't make a mess," Sara called after her.  She pulled the blankets back onto the bed and smoothed them out, tucking the corners underneath.

*           *            *

Half an hour later, Sara and Katie sat at Grissom's kitchen table, eating French toast and drinking orange juice.  

"How come you and Dad never dated each other?" Katie asked suddenly.

Sara stared at her.  "Where did _that _question come from?"

Katie shrugged.  "I always wondered.  I used to pretend that you did," she confided.  "I know he's not really my dad, but I used to pretend that you and him were married, and that I had a little sister."

"That's a nice fantasy," Sara said softly, mostly to herself.  She finished her glass of juice and changed the subject.  "I thought maybe you'd like to go shopping today.  Pick out some good clothes you like."

"Really?" Katie's green eyes were bright with excitement.  "Wow.  The last time I got new clothes was when someone put a new shirt in the donation barrel last August.  It had the tags on it and everything."

Sara's eyes narrowed at the mention of the orphanage.  "We have an appointment at two o'clock.  We're going to meet Grissom at the lab, and talk to a detective."

Katie's eyes went wide.  "I'm not in trouble for running away, am I?" she asked in a small voice.

"No, honey.  No," Sara assured her.  "We're hoping Detective Brass can help us to keep you from having to go back."

Katie breathed a sigh of relief and wrapped her small arms around Sara's neck.  "Nobody should have to live there, Mom.  That place is a dump.  Amy, one of the girls in my room, steals matches a lot.  She tries to set fire to the rooms, but I always stomp out the flames she makes."

Sara held Katie for a while, rubbing her back.  "I want you to tell Detective Brass everything you know about that orphanage.  How dirty it is........the way they treated you........_everything_.  Can you do that?"

Katie nodded against Sara's shoulder.  "I memorized the address too.  They can go see it for themselves."

"That's my smart girl," Sara said with a smile.  

Katie gave Sara one final squeeze.  "I love you, Mom," she said, planting a kiss on Sara's cheek.

Sara touched the girl's cheek affectionately.  "I love you too, Katie-bug," she responded, using the nickname Grissom had given her long ago.

*           *            *

They stopped off at Sara's apartment before heading to a department store.  Katie snooped around while Sara put on fresh, unwrinkled clothes and fixed her hair and makeup.

Katie picked up a small brown teddy bear sitting on a corner of Sara's dresser.  She couldn't explain why, but she felt drawn to that bear.  She brought it to her nose and breathed in its fragrance.  "I know that smell," she murmured to herself.

She closed her eyes and inhaled the familiar scent again.  "Lilacs!"  She remembered smelling lilacs once before, in her childhood before the orphanage.  

_"Daddy," the seven-year-old said with a pout.  "Jimmy Payne threw my bear in the lilac bush!"  _

_Grissom scooped her up in his arms and swung her in a circle.  "I'll just have to toss you up there to get it, then," he teased. _

Katie opened her eyes with a faraway smile.  She set the bear back on the dresser as Sara came out of the bathroom.  "Wow, Mom!  You look great!"

Sara looked down at the outfit she had chosen:  simple black jeans and a sleeveless blue top.  "Well, thanks.  That's the best compliment I've ever gotten about my clothes."

Katie gave a dimpled smile.  "You're beautiful, Mom.  Don't people ever compliment you?"

Sara laughed.  "About my working skills, yes.  Anything other than the job, no.  Come on, kiddo.  Let's get you some clothes."

The first few things to be chosen were toiletry items.  An angled toothbrush, a tube of minty toothpaste, and a stick of apple-scented deodorant.

With Sara's help, Katie picked out several pairs of shorts and pants and coordinating blouses that complimented her fair skin and dark hair.  They topped those off with underwear, socks, and a set of pajamas.  The last items to be purchased were new sneakers and a pair of sandals.

The saleswoman remarked to Sara, "Your daughter looks so much like you.  Lovely child.  She'll be a heartbreaker in a few years."

Katie giggled shyly.  

"She's a natural beauty," Sara answered proudly, not correcting the saleswoman as to Katie's biological parentage.

Loaded down with bags, they headed for the department store's restroom, where Katie changed into one of her new outfits.  Sara threw the old orphanage clothes and shoes into the garbage can.

"Off with the old, and on with the new," Katie said with a grin and a hug for Sara.  "Thanks, Mom."

Sara's stomach grumbled, and Katie pulled away laughing.  Sara gave an embarrassed chuckle.  "What do you want for lunch?"

Katie thought for a moment.  "Could I have a chicken burrito?" 

"Want onion rings too?" 

"Yeah!" Katie exclaimed.  "I love onion rings!"

They went to a drive-thru window at an Arby's and placed their orders.  

Sara parked in the shade of a tree and ate her vegetarian burrito, while Katie practically inhaled her chicken burrito and onion rings.  

They washed it all down with ice-cold Pepsis.

"Wow, that burrito was bigger than I thought it would be," Sara commented.  "I am thoroughly stuffed."

Katie leaned back in her seat.  "Me too.  But it sure was delicious."  She gave an involuntary burp, quickly clapping a hand over her mouth.  "Excuse me!"

Sara gave her a sideways glance as she started the car.  "Do you know that in some countries, you show your appreciation for a meal by burping as loud as possible?"

Katie gaped at Sara.  "Eww!"  

*           *            *

Brass wanted to avoid intimidating Katie as much as possible, so rather than using the interrogation room where people were usually questioned, he suggested meeting in his office.

He spoke briefly with Sara and Grissom before bringing Katie into the room.  

Sara took the opportunity to mention Amy and her fire-starting ways.

Grissom was not happy with this information.  But rather than stew over it, he eventually stood and brought Katie into Brass' office.

"Jim, this is Katie.  Katie, I want you to meet Detective Jim Brass," Grissom introduced them.  "He wants to ask you some questions."

Katie sat down in the chair that was wedged between Sara's and Grissom's.  "Nice to meet you, sir."  She gave Brass a shy but dimpled smile.

Brass smiled back easily.  He began in a soft, kind voice.  "Miss Katie, I need you to tell me everything you remember about the Glendive Orphanage.  All right?"

Katie swallowed the dry lump in her throat and nodded.  "I'll try."

"Good girl," Brass answered.  "Let's talk about the building itself, shall we?  Now, your.....uh......your 'mom' said you memorized the address?"

"Yes, sir.  I did."  Katie gave him the address, and he wrote it down on his yellow notepad.

Brass asked many questions:  Were the rooms warm, clean and sanitary?  Are there roaches, spiders, or other bugs present?  Mice or rats, perhaps?  Do the children bathe regularly?  Do they receive proper food and clothing?  How are the kids treated?  Is anyone violent or abusive, be it headmaster or child?  How is discipline handed out?

Katie bravely answered the multitude of questions as well as she could.  

Grissom and Sara were both proud of her strength of mind to do so.

"What can you tell me about this girl named Amy?" Brass questioned.

Katie's eyes narrowed in thought.  "She's kinda scary.  She hates one of the headmistresses, Miss Melly.  Amy calls her Miss Smelly.  She....she likes to start fires.  Um, Amy does, I mean.  Not Miss Melly.  Even when I tell Amy not to, she starts them.  She almost burnt the kitchen once.  Everyone says she's crazy."

Brass did not like what he was hearing.  "Has Amy ever tried to hurt anybody with these fires, Katie?  Is it her intention to burn down the entire orphanage?"

Katie shook her head, thinking.  "No.....she never said she wanted to burn the place down.  I don't think she's ever hurt anybody.  I don't know," she said, feeling slightly frustrated at herself for not knowing exactly.

"That's okay," Brass assured.  "You've been very helpful, Katie.  Thank you."

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	5. Chapter 5

"What are your plans for the rest of the day?" Grissom asked Sara as they walked with Katie through the halls of the CSI building.

Sara shrugged.  "I was thinking it's about time I cleaned out my spare bedroom for Katie to use.  Why?  What do you need?"

Grissom grinned shyly at her.  "Well, unless you wanted some help with that, I was thinking maybe Katie would like to go see a movie with me or something.  If that's all right with you?"

Katie's head jerked upward.  She looked up at Grissom and Sara with obvious anticipation in her eyes.  "A movie?  Really?"

"If your mom says it's okay," Grissom said, not taking his eyes from Sara's.  

Sara was mildly amused as she looked back and forth from one to the other.  Grissom and Katie had matching pleading expressions on their faces.  

"Oh, please say yes, mom!" Katie encouraged, wrapping her arms around Sara's waist and looking up at her with bright green eyes.

"Yeah, please say yes, mom," Grissom teased with another grin.

Sara matched his grin and rolled her eyes.  "I'll manage by myself.  Go have fun."

"Oh thank you!" Katie let go of Sara after another squeeze.  

Sara lovingly brushed a curl behind Katie's ear.  "Don't wear him out too much," she said with a smile.

"I won't," Katie replied, slipping a small hand into Grissom's large one.

They parted company in the parking lot.  

Katie buckled herself into Grissom's front passenger seat, then inspected all the knobs and buttons on the radio.

"Thank you, Sara," Grissom said.  His hand lightly cupped her elbow as he stood next to her.  "This means a lot to me."

Sara surprised them both quite a bit when she brushed her fingers across his cheek.  "She's good for you."

Grissom gave Sara a shy smile, looking mostly at the ground and not at her.  He turned and got into his car, where Katie was waiting patiently.

Sara unlocked her car, which coincidentally was parked next to Grissom's, and got in.  

As Grissom started his car and pulled out of the parking lot, Katie gave Sara a full grin and waved goodbye.

Sara waved back, started her own car, and headed for her apartment.

*           *            *

Sara eyed the mass of boxes with trepidation.  Four years ago, she had thrown all her extra belongings into her "second bedroom" when she made the move from San Francisco to Las Vegas.

Now she wished she hadn't kept so much junk.

With a sigh, she dragged a chair and a trash can into the doorway.  Sara decided she would pick through each box, keeping only what she couldn't bear to part with and donating the rest to the Goodwill.

Sara pulled a box around in front of her and opened it.  Junk.....junk.....a flattened metallic gift bow.  Sara chucked that into the trash can.

More junk.....and a busted picture frame, which joined the gift bow in the bottom of the trash.

Old magazines......pictures of people she didn't remember; pictures of ones she didn't want to remember.....and half a Ritz cracker.  

"Yuck."  Sara made a gagging noise and dumped the cracker into the trash.

An hour later, she groaned and stretched her arms.  Her back was killing her, as were her shoulders.

She stood up and wandered around her apartment, making a detour to the refrigerator for a refreshing bottle of cold water.  She stood there for a moment, sipping her water and staring off into space.

Sara tossed the empty bottle into the trash and grabbed a box, filling it with the pile of stuff to keep.  Neither the pile nor the box was very big, so she stored it away in the back of her closet.

Looking at the wide stack of Goodwill-bound boxes, Sara realized there was no possible way that they were going to fit in her car.  

Catherine's car wasn't any bigger than hers, and Sara had no intention whatsoever of asking to borrow Warrick's trash-infested personal vehicle.

"Hey Nick," she said into the phone after dialing a number.  "It's Sara."

"Hi, kid.  What's up?" was Nick's greeting.

"Um, can I borrow your truck?"

"My truck?" Nick echoed.  "What do you need my truck for?"

"Well, I've got boxes of stuff I want to donate to the Goodwill.  They don't fit in my car, and I wanted to dump them all in one trip."

"Oh," Nick replied.  "Sure, you can use my truck.  Unless someone stole the mud-bucket, it's still parked in the CSI lot."

Sara chuckled.  "Thanks, Nick.  I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Hey, when do we all get to meet Katie?" Nick wanted to know.  "I know, I kinda met her already when she showed up at the lab, but Catherine and Warrick haven't actually talked to her.  They're getting kind of anxious to meet her.  Their curiosity is gonna kill them, if you know what I mean."

"I know what you mean.  It's their curiousity that makes them such good CSIs," Sara answered.  "I'm going to bring her in tomorrow.  There's nobody to watch her at my apartment, and I don't want to leave her alone."

Nick laughed through the phone.  "Man, I can't wait to see the look on Greg's face when he finds out you have a 'daughter'.  And a twelve-year-old, no less."

"Thanks a lot, Nicky," Sara smirked to herself.  "You're making me feel old right now."

"You're welcome," Nick replied sweetly, thankful that Sara couldn't swat him through the phone.

*           *            *

Grissom and Katie sat in a dark theater, surrounded by many other people.  

Katie had chosen a kid's comedy, and was now laughing so hard that she got the hiccups.

She had long since drank all her Pepsi, so Grissom let Katie have a few sips from his cup.  

Gradually, the hiccups subsided.

Katie shared her bag of peanut M&Ms with Grissom.  Out of every handful, she picked all the red ones and handed the rest to Grissom.

At Grissom's raised eyebrow and amused expression, Katie whispered, "I just like the red ones."  

Had Sara taught her that?  

Grissom had once witnessed Sara steal a bag of M&M's from Nick.  She had picked out all the yellow candies, and handed the others back to Nick.  

Grissom had given the gesture little thought at the time, but now he wondered about it.

_Is that a quirk Katie learned from Sara?  Or, perhaps, even some kind of behavior pattern inherent to members of the Sidle family?  Possibly a mild case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder......_

He pondered this for a while, then banished the theory from his mind and focused on the movie screen, absently popping a few candies into his mouth.

*           *            *

Sara dumped her donations at the nearest Goodwill, which happened to be eleven miles away from her apartment.  As an act of kindness, she filled up Nick's half-empty gas tank before returning his truck.

The spare bedroom looked quite bare with all the boxes gone.  A few pieces of unused furniture remained.  A twin bed, a small dresser, and a desk and chair.

Thankfully, the walls didn't need new paint, and the carpet was in decent condition.

Sara vacuumed the floor, put fresh sheets and comforter on the bed, and polished the desk, chair, and dresser with dusting spray.  

Crisp white curtains gave the room an inviting air, and a framed print of pale pink roses soon adorned the dresser top.

But the room still lacked something.

Sara entered her own bedroom, taking the small brown teddy bear off her dresser.  She held it in her hands a moment, gently fingering the worn patches of fur.

Going back into Katie's new bedroom, she set the bear on the middle of the pillow.

She filled the dresser drawers with the clothes she had bought the young girl earlier in the day.  Then, with nothing else left to occupy herself with, Sara sat down to rest.

Lounging on the couch on her stomach, she mindlessly flipped through the channels.  Finding nothing worth watching, she turned off the TV and closed her eyes.

Sara awoke to the feel of hands gently massaging her back.  She opened her eyes slowly and lifted her head just a little. 

Grissom's smile and bright blue eyes greeted her.  "Hey," he said softly.  He was sitting sideways on the edge of the couch.

"Mmm," Sara answered.  "Don't stop.  That feels good."

Grissom continued with the massage.  "Did you know you left your front door unlocked?"

Sara's eyes grew wide.  "Oops," she said sheepishly.  "I wondered how you got in."

"You should be more careful," he chided gently.  

"Where's Katie?"

Grissom finished massaging Sara's back and brushed a lock of hair away from her eyes.  "She's in your spare bedroom.  She fell asleep the minute she sat on the bed."

Sara yawned and rolled over onto her back.  "Aren't you tired?" she asked him.

Grissom lifted Sara's legs, sat on the end of the couch, and maneuvered her feet into his lap.  He tugged her shoes off so they wouldn't soil his clothes.  "Yeah.  I'm tired," he answered.  "But it's a good kind of tired."

"I agree with you there," Sara stated.  "What are you doing?"

Grissom had pulled the socks off Sara's feet and tossed them onto the floor next to her shoes.  "Your socks were dirty," he said simply.

Sara stared at him.  

"What?" Grissom asked with a chuckle.

"Don't you dare."

Grissom feigned offense.  "Excuse me?  Don't I dare what?"

Sara narrowed her eyes.  "You know exactly what."  She tried to pull her feet out of his grasp, but he wouldn't allow it.

Grissom gave Sara an evil look and tickled one foot.

"No!  Grissom!  Ack!  I'll kick you!  I mean it!"

"Not if I have both your feet!"  Grissom held her legs down with one hand and tickled her feet with the other hand.

"That's not fair!" Sara gasped through her giggles.  She tried to swat at him, and wiggled around so much that she ended up on her back on the floor.  "Ohhh, see what you did?" she playfully accused.  

Grissom just laughed and helped her back up.  He stood, gripped Sara's hands, and pulled.  Sara came to her feet a little closer than he had expected, and Grissom found himself a sudden captive to her sparkling chocolate-brown eyes.

Sara felt herself sinking into the blue depths that stared back at her.  

A mist of tension settled over them and they broke apart almost awkwardly.

"Um, I should go," Grissom said a little too quickly.

Sara nodded, not looking him in the eye.  "Yeah.  It's, uh, it's getting pretty late."

"Yeah."  Grissom headed for the front door.  His hand closed around the brass knob, and he turned to face Sara one more time.  He hesitated for a second before speaking.  "Thanks again, for letting Katie go with me."

"Any time you want, Grissom," Sara answered sincerely.  "She needs you too."

Grissom gave her a genuine smile before opening the door and stepping out.

Sara sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.  "Shake the dust out of your head, Sara," she told herself.  "He's here for Katie, not for you."

She locked the front door, wondering how she could have been so careless as to leave it unlocked earlier.

Looking in on Katie, Sara smiled to herself.  

Katie hadn't bothered to undress and put on her new pajamas.  She was lying fully clothed, shoes and all, on top of the fluffy blue comforter.  She clutched the brown teddy bear in one hand, and a strip of shiny paper in the other hand.

Sara carefully extracted the paper strip from Katie's grasp and studied it.  It was a strip of black and white photos, the type that come from photo booths found in shopping mall hallways.  

Each picture showed Katie and Grissom making silly faces at each other and at the camera.  

Grissom had apparently kept one photo for himself, because the bottom edge had been carefully bent and torn off.

Sara laid the photo strip on the dresser top next to the rose print, then removed Katie's shoes and pulled the comforter around her.  She kissed the young girl's forehead, smoothed her curls, and turned off the light.

Moving into her own bedroom, Sara changed into fresh pajamas and climbed into bed.

___________________________________________________________________________

_To Be Continued............._


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey guys," Sara greeted over her coffee cup as Nick, Catherine and Warrick filed into the break room.  

"Hey," they answered back.

Nick looked over to where Katie and Grissom sat side by side at the table, working a crossword puzzle together.  "Genius in training?" he asked Sara with a grin.

Sara smirked.  "Stick around, Nick.  You might learn a few things."

Katie studied a crossword clue and pressed the cap of her pen to her lips, thinking.  "Satellite?" she suggested.

Grissom considered her suggestion, and counted the required number of crossword squares.  "It fits.  Write it in."

Katie shook a curl out of her eyes and wrote in her answer, using neat, precise letters.

"You sure those two aren't related?" Warrick joked.

Sara snickered and took another sip of coffee.  "Not unless Grissom was a creepy-looking Italian in a former life," she answered in reference to Katie's biological father.

They filled in a few more crossword blanks, then Grissom put it away.  "Wanna meet some people now?" he asked Katie.

Katie turned large green eyes on him.  "What if they don't like me?" she whispered nervously.

"Hey," Grissom whispered back.  He playfully tweaked her nose.  "Trust me.  What's not to like?"

Katie looked at the people across the room.  Sara met her eyes and gave an encouraging smile.  "Okay," Katie relented.

Grissom gave Katie a proper introduction to Catherine, Warrick and Nick.

"Nice to meet you," Katie responded politely.  To Nick, she said, "I remember you.  You helped me find Mom the other day."

Nick smiled his charming ladies-man smile.  "That's right.  I did."  He winked at Sara and whispered in her ear, "Cute kid."

Sara smiled and sat down at the table next to Katie.  The others followed suit.

Grissom handed out assignments.  He and Warrick had a home invasion/kidnapping to investigate; Catherine had a solo case on a dead body; and Sara and Nick had lab work to finish up.  

The arrangement worked out nicely, with an eager Katie tagging along from room to room.  She quickly learned the layout of the building, and kept from getting lost.

She was curious about everything, but cautiously kept out of people's way.  She followed Nick into the Audio/Visual lab, where she met Archie.  

"I knew we started them out young, but not that young," Archie quipped with a smile.  

Nick grinned.  "Archie, this is Katie.  Katie, meet Archie.  He's our audio/visual wizard."

Archie shook Katie's small hand, and read her last name off the visitor's badge she wore.  "Sidle, huh?  Any relation to Sara?"

Katie nodded.  "Yep," she said simply.

"Little sister?" Archie assumed.

"Nope."  Katie fought to control the grin creeping onto her face.  Everybody she had met so far got the same confused expression on their face as they tried to figure out who she was.  It was quite amusing.

Sara poked her head into the room.  "Hey, there you are."  She tossed an unopened pop can to Nick.  "Coke's empty.  You get Pepsi."  She opened a second can and handed it to Katie, keeping the third one for herself.

"Mmmm....thanks, mom," Katie said after a refreshing chug.

Archie's jaw dropped.  '_Mom?_' he mouthed to Nick, who grinned widely at him.

Sara didn't notice; her mind was on their current case.  "So what do you have for us, Archie?"

Archie seemed to shake himself out of his stupor, and cleared his throat.  "Oh!  Um, I was able to separate a few individual tracks from your audio tape.  There's definitely some shouting there, masked by your freeway sounds."

"Do we know what they're saying?" Nick wanted to know.

"Sorry, guys," Archie apologized.  "I haven't gotten that far.  I'm backlogged from yesterday and Eckley's been harassing me for his results too."

"My sympathies to you," Nick said, giving Archie an understanding pat on the shoulder.  "Page me when you get it done."

"Will do."

Katie, Nick, and Sara filed out of the audio/visual lab.

As soon as they were gone, Archie shot up out of his seat and dialed the DNA lab's phone number.

"Yo," Greg answered into the phone.

"Hey, man.  It's Archie."

"If I get in trouble again for talking on this phone, I'm turning you in," Greg said defensively.  "I got work to do."

"Don't hang up, Greg," Archie said immediately.  

Greg sighed.  "What do you want?"

"Have you seen Sara or Nick walking around today, with a young brunette girl following them?"

Greg cradled the phone between his ear and shoulder, and talked as he worked.  "Yeah, they just went into the Trace lab.  Why?"

Archie quickly ducked out of sight as Eckley walked past his lab.  In a low voice, he asked, "Do you know who that kid is?  You know why she's here?"

"What's wrong with you, man?" Greg asked, concerned.  "You've seen school kids here before.  She's probably doing research for a project or something."

"My god, Greg, you are dense!" Archie exclaimed.  "She can't be doing a school project!  School ended a week ago.  I should know, because my cousins have been driving me nuts during the daytime for the past week."

"All right, all right.  Don't go postal on me, buddy."

"Listen to me very carefully, Sanders," Archie instructed, losing patience.  "That girl's name is Katie Sidle."

"Sidle?  Sara's got a little sister?" Greg surmised, taking a swig from a bottle of water.

Archie growled in frustration.  "She's not a little sister, you dolt!  She's Sara's daughter!"

Greg promptly gagged on his water.  Through the phone, Archie could hear him choking and coughing.

"Daughter?" Greg gasped.  "Uh uh.  No way."  He coughed again.  "No how.  That girl's too old to be Sara's daughter."

Archie laughed at him.  "Dude, just ask Sara.  Or Nick."

"Oh god!  Nick's not the father, is he?"  Greg's pulse pounded in his ears.  

"I don't know," Archie answered honestly.  "He didn't say he was.  He didn't say he _wasn't_, either."

Greg ran a hand through his already messy hair.  "Am I in the Twilight Zone?" 

"No, but you'll be in the unemployed zone if you don't get off the phone and get back to work," Grissom stated from the doorway.

Greg jumped and quickly turned around.  Locking eyes with Grissom, he feigned innocence as he said into the phone, "I'm sorry, you have the wrong number," and hung up on Archie.

Grissom stepped into the DNA lab with an intimidating presence.  "Do you have my test results, Greg?"

"Umm," Greg nervously hopped over to a printer and grabbed a page of data, handing it to Grissom.

Grissom read through the results and frowned to himself.

Behind him, Katie entered the room.  "Hi, Dad."

Greg stared at the child, turning very pale at the word 'Dad'.  He suddenly felt sick to his stomach.

Grissom turned at the sound of her voice.  "Oh, hey Katie-bug.  Having fun today?"

Katie nodded enthusiastically.  "Nick showed me how to work a microscope."

"Good," Grissom answered with a smile.  "Katie, have you met Greg yet?"

"I don't think so."  Katie peered around Grissom to see Greg.  

Grissom introduced them.  "Greg, this is Katie.  Katie, Greg."

Katie smiled and waved shyly.  

Greg gave her a weak smile.  "Hi there," he managed to say.

Grissom stared curiously at Greg.  "Are you okay?" he asked.

Greg gulped and nodded, still gaping at them.  "I'm, uh....I'm fine."

Grissom wasn't wholly convinced, but didn't press further.  

"Oh, I almost forgot," Katie said to Grissom.  "Mom was looking for you.  She's in your office."

"Okay.  Thanks, sweetie."  With one more puzzled glance in Greg's direction, Grissom followed Katie out of the DNA lab.  

Katie took a detour to find Catherine as Grissom continued on to his office.

Greg collapsed onto his stool and reached for the phone.  "I know who her father is," he moaned to Archie.

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	7. Chapter 7

Grissom found Sara lounging in the chair behind his desk with her feet propped up on a stack of papers.

Sara quickly put her feet down and gave him an innocent smile.  

"Katie said you were looking for me?" Grissom asked suspiciously.

"Yeah," Sara answered.  "I thought you might like to know that Brass has decided to personally check out that orphanage."

Grissom raised a curious eyebrow.  "He's going there himself?  Wow."

"Yeah," Sara agreed.  "He's taking a week's worth of vacation time so he can unofficially investigate that dump without jeopardizing his career.  He's leaving the day after tomorrow."  She chuckled, thinking to herself.  "You know, I think Brass is totally smitten with Katie, just like everyone else is."

"Well, she has charmed every person she's met," Grissom mused.  "And she's only been in this building for one day."

"Where's she at now?" Sara wanted to know as she leaned back in her supervisor's chair again.  She refrained from putting her feet back up on his desk, opting instead to rotate the chair slowly from side to side.

"Tracking down Catherine.  Katie wanted to see what she was doing."

Sara grinned.  "I hope she drives Cath nuts with her questions."

Grissom chuckled and shook his head in wonder.  "She always was curious about everything."

"Yeah," Sara agreed softly.  She sat there silently for a moment, then stood up.  "I need to get back to work.  I left Nick working on our phone list."

Grissom watched her exit his office, then he sat down in his recently vacated desk chair.  He opened a drawer on the right side of his desk and took out a small, square picture frame.

He fingered the image through the glass.  It was the black-and-white Photo Booth picture Katie had given him.  

Grissom smiled to himself as he studied the framed picture.

Katie's arms were wrapped around his neck from behind, with her chin resting atop his salt-and-pepper curls.  

The young girl's own hair had tickled at Grissom's cheeks as she giggled uncontrollably at something he had said.

Grissom moved a stack of papers away from the corner of his desk and set down the picture.

A knock sounded on the doorframe, and he looked up to find Warrick standing there.

"Our suspect's here," was all Warrick said.

Grissom nodded, stood up, and followed.

*           *            *

"Hey, kiddo," Catherine said with a friendly smile.

"Hi."  Katie came into the room and sat down in a chair next to Catherine and watched her work.

Catherine had photos spread out on a large table.  She was comparing several possible murder weapons to an enlarged photo of a chest wound.  

She wondered silently if she should be allowing the young girl to see such graphic photos of the crime, but Katie didn't appear to be affected by it at all.  Catherine made a mental note to ask Sara about it later.

Katie glanced at the potential weapons, and then her eyes wandered to the collage of photos.  

One picture at the far edge of the table caught her eye.  Her brow furrowed as she leaned closer for a better look.

"What do you see?" Catherine asked with a little smile.

Katie frowned as she studied the picture.  "What's his name?"

Catherine raised an eyebrow at the odd question.  "The victim's name?  We don't know yet.  Why do you ask?"

Katie bit her bottom lip thoughtfully.  "I think I've seen that person before."

That statement caught Catherine's attention.  "What?" 

"This guy."  Katie pointed to one picture of the victim's face.  "I think that's the man Dad and Warrick are looking for.  The kidnapped guy.......um, Leonard something."

Catherine looked at Katie, then stared at the picture.  "What makes you think that, Katie?"

"I saw a picture in Dad's case folder," the girl replied simply with a shrug of her shoulder.  "I'm pretty sure this is the same guy."

"Well, there's one way to find out for sure."  Catherine pulled out her cell phone and dialed a familiar cell number.  "Warrick, it's Catherine.  Um, I need your input on something.  I'm in Layout Room B.  Hurry."

Two minutes later, Warrick walked through the doorway.  "This better be important.  You pulled me away from an interrogation."

"Sorry," Catherine apologized.  She held up the photo Katie had pointed out.  "Does he look familiar to you?"

Warrick's mouth dropped open.  "That's our missing person!"

"Leonard Shaw?" Catherine asked, recalling the name from Warrick's case.

"Leonard Shaw," Warrick confirmed with a dumbfounded nod.  "But how did you know he was our missing guy?"

"I didn't," Catherine stated.  She stood behind Katie and squeezed her shoulders affectionately.  "It seems we have a future CSI on our hands."

Warrick chuckled.  "Oh, you go, girl!" he praised Katie.  

Katie grinned from ear to ear.  

"We have to run a DNA test to confirm that he's really your guy," Catherine instructed as she gathered up her case folder and pictures.  

*           *            *

"So, it turns out that my D.B. is your missing person," Catherine finished explaining to Grissom.  "We're working the same case now."

Grissom looked at Katie with an expression of pride.  "Sharp eyes.....sharp mind."

Katie smiled shyly and leaned silently against Grissom's chair.  

"Hey, Griss?  Can we add Katie to our team?" Warrick put in.  "Her photographic memory could come in handy."

Grissom smirked.  "Catherine, have you found the murder weapon yet?"

"Not yet.  But I've narrowed it down a bit."  She handed him a picture of the victim's stab wound.  "It's too round and narrow to be a knife or letter opener.  According to Doc Robbins, the flesh abrasions indicate that the weapon was rough, not smooth, ruling out pens or pencils."

Grissom studied the picture intently.  "Well, the vic was a carpenter, employed by Hammer Construction.......and he was found at the Valley Homes construction site."

"Yeah.  What are you thinking?" Warrick asked.  He could almost see the wheels turning in Grissom's head.

"Our only suspect, Robert Daly, is also employed by Hammer Construction."

"And Daly works the same construction site that Shaw worked," Warrick followed his boss' line of thinking.

"You're thinking Daly killed him?" Catherine ventured.

Grissom pushed his chair back and stood up.  "I'm thinking I want to see Mr. Daly's carpentry kit."

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	8. Chapter 8

"What do you mean, Katie's not theirs?"  Greg was terribly confused.  "She's not a mirage.  Look, I know for a fact that she called Grissom 'Dad'.  I was standing right there, pal."

"And you were there, Nick, when she called Sara 'Mom' in the A / V Lab," Archie added.

Warrick rolled his eyes in amusement and said to Nick, "Should we tell them, or let them figure it out for themselves?"

Nick eyed the anxious expressions on the faces of their colleagues.  "Where's the fun in telling them?  I think we should let them try to figure it out."

"Dude, you _gotta _tell us!" Greg insisted.  "Is Katie their kid or not?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Greggo," Warrick answered.  

"Guys, yes or no?" Archie prodded.

Nick grinned to himself.  He'd never seen these two lab rats squirm this much before.  "Yes........and no."

Greg buried his face in his hands and growled.  "I don't care what Grissom says——I _know_ I'm in the Twilight Zone here."

Warrick couldn't help laughing.  "Ah, cheer up, man.  Nick and I would be glad to explain everything."

*           *            *

"How did you get a warrant for Robert Daly's tool kit so fast?" Catherine wanted to know.

"I called in a favor," Grissom answered vaguely.  He studied each tool by itself, comparing it to the victim's wound, much like Catherine had done earlier with her items.

He held up a round metal file.  It was long and thin, and appeared to be the same diameter as the chest wound.  "What do you think?"

Warrick sprayed it liberally with Luminol.  "Bingo."

"Human blood on a carpenter's file," Grissom stated.  "Want to bet it matches our victim's blood?"

"That's what caused the wound abrasions," Catherine said in wonder.  "The metal teeth on the file."

Greg's DNA tests proved that Robert Daly did, in fact, stab his carpentry partner, Leonard Shaw, with a round metal file.

When confronted with the evidence, Daly confessed.

"Why?" Brass asked Mr. Daly.  "What did he do that was so awful you had to kidnap and murder him?"

Daly said nothing.  He sat there calmly, hands folded in front of him on the interrogation table.  

He studied Brass' expression of obvious contempt.

Robert Daly's mouth slowly formed a smirk, which then stretched into a wide, smug smile.  "You'll never know."

Grissom narrowed his eyes at the man, feeling anger towards Daly's blatant disrespect of life.

"Get him out of here," Brass growled.  

Two guards entered the interrogation room, recited the Miranda Rights to Robert Daly, and hauled him away in handcuffs.

Grissom was about to say something, but pursed his lips instead and left the room.  He nearly barreled right into Sara, who sidestepped him to avoid the collision.  

"Grissom?" Sara looked concerned.  "What's wrong?"

His expression softened as he looked at her.  "Nothing's wrong, Sara."  He gave her a half-convincing smile.  "Just been a long day."

"No kidding," Sara agreed with a nod of her head.  "Hey, I heard a rumor that Katie tied your case to Catherine's.  Is that true?"

Grissom couldn't stop the genuine smile that spread across his face as he walked down the hallway with Sara.  "It's true, she did.  I guess she saw photos from both cases, and pointed out the fact that Catherine's victim looked like my missing person."

"She's such a smart kid," Sara said affectionately.  They came around a corner and entered the locker room.  "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Grissom looked at her in surprise.  "You're leaving?"

"Um, I don't know if you realized it, Grissom.....but shift is over," Sara said with a light chuckle as she removed some things from her locker and shut the door.

Grissom glanced at his watch.  "Huh.  I guess I must have lost track of the time."

Sara gave him an all-too-knowing grin.  "Katie was supposed to be here by now.  I wonder what's keeping her?"

"She was with Nick earlier," Grissom answered with a shrug.  "They probably lost track of the time too."

Seems to be a lot of that going around, Sara thought to herself.

The locker room door swung open and Katie bounded inside with Nick right behind her.  "Hey!  Uncle Nick was teaching me about fingerprint powder," she said excitedly.

Sara and Grissom both raised an eyebrow at each other, then at Nick.  _'Uncle' Nick_? Sara mouthed amusedly.

Nick innocently smiled back.

Sara rolled her eyes, still smiling.  "Ready to go, Katie-bug?" she asked.

"Yep!" Katie hugged Grissom, and gave Nick a wave.  "Bye, Dad.  Bye Uncle Nick."

"Bye," they answered.

"You do realize that you're labeled for life now?" Grissom questioned Nick as he gathered his own things and turned to leave.

"Huh?" Nick didn't quite understand.

Grissom stuck his head back around the door.  "You'll be 'Uncle Nick' to her for the rest of her life.  Once Katie gives you a title, you're stuck with it.  That's why she still calls me 'Dad', even though technically I'm not."

Nick watched the door close as he absorbed Grissom's words.  "Labeled for life, huh?" he said to himself with a little smile.  He rather liked the idea of being Katie's uncle.  "Not a bad label to have.  Not bad, indeed."

*           *            *

Sara's doorbell rang while she and Katie were washing the dishes.

"I bet it's old Mrs. Taylor again," Katie decided.  

"It better not be," Sara retorted.  "We turned down the music five times already.  She can't possibly hear it now."  She dried her hands on a dish towel and approached her front door.

A peek through the spy hole proved that it wasn't the grouchy Mrs. Taylor.

Sara opened the door with a smile.  "What are you doing here?"

Grissom shrugged.  "I was in the neighborhood.  I, uh, brought a little gift for Katie."  From behind his back came a small potted plant.  "She likes spiders and plants, so I figured maybe she'd like a spider plant."

"I think she'll love it."  Sara stepped back and let Grissom into her apartment.  "Katie," she called into the kitchen.  "Grissom's here."

Katie winced as a glass slipped out of her hand and plopped back into the dishwater, sending soapy droplets flying.  "Oops."  She wiped her hands dry, swished the towel at the water puddle on the counter, and flew into the living room.

"Hi!" Katie flung herself onto the couch between Sara and Grissom.  Her eyes locked onto the exotic-looking striped plant on the coffee table.  "What's that?" she asked in awe.  

Grissom smiled.  "That's a spider plant.  I gave your mom an orchid a couple of years ago, and I thought maybe you'd like a plant of your own, too."

"Really?" Katie turned bright green eyes on Grissom.  "That's for me?"

"That's for you," Grissom confirmed.

"Wow," Katie breathed, reaching out to touch the green foliage with white stripes.  "I never had my own plant before."  She impulsively wrapped her arms around Grissom's neck and planted a kiss on his cheek.  "Thanks!"

Grissom grinned shyly, meeting Sara's eyes over Katie's head.

Sara smiled back.

"Can I keep it on my desk?" Katie asked Sara.

"As long as you keep it in the sunlight and don't forget to water it."

"I won't forget," Katie insisted, standing up and cradling the spider plant gently in her arms.  She carried the plant carefully into her bedroom and set it on a sunny corner of her desk.

"You never buy cut flowers, do you?" Sara teased Grissom when Katie left the room.  "Always a living plant."

"Cut flowers die eventually," Grissom answered sensibly.  "Whereas live plants, if you take care of them, last a long time."

Sara considered this.  "True," she admitted.

"Besides," Grissom continued.  "An orchid kept you from leaving me.  Who's to say a spider plant doesn't carry the same magic for Katie?"

Sara stared at him, her brain processing his words.  _'An orchid kept you from leaving me' ?_  

So maybe it really wasn't just the lab that needed her......

"And you're hoping a plant will keep Katie here?" Sara attempted to clarify at least the second portion of his statement.

Grissom gave an embarrassed shrug.  "It's not very scientific reasoning, is it?"

Sara offered a half-smile.  "I don't know.......it sounds pretty reasonable to me."

Grissom held her gaze momentarily, then looked down, clearing his throat.  "Well, I need to get going.  Got things to do, you know?"

They both rose from the couch as Katie came back into the living room.  

"I guess I'll......see you later." Grissom said, walking towards the door.

"Bye."  

Katie closed the door behind Grissom, then turned around and gave Sara a funny look.

"What?" Sara asked in surprise.

"You should ask him out," Katie said plainly.

_Been there, done that,_ Sara thought to herself.  "I'm afraid that doesn't work in my world," she aloud.

"Huh?"

Sara shook her head.  "I did ask him out once," she confided.  "He said no, I didn't ask again, and that was it."

"Well, I think he made a big mistake by saying no," Katie stated with conviction.  

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	9. Chapter 9

Katie came to work with Sara every evening. It was a miracle to Sara that Carvallo had even allowed that arrangement in the first place. But as long as Katie wore her visitor's badge, didn't become a nuisance to anyone, and avoided contact with any and all evidence from open cases, she was welcome to stay.

Catherine had offered the convenience of having the younger Sidle girl stay with Lindsey and her babysitter every night, but Katie had begged Sara not to take that option.

Sara wasn't too keen on the idea of leaving Katie with a stranger either, regardless of Catherine's good recommendation.

So every evening that Sara went to work, Katie was there too.

Sometimes she would tag along behind various Night Shift team members as they moved throughout the building processing their case evidences, and sometimes she would hang out with Archie, Greg, or Bobby.

When she wasn't in any of those places, though, Katie could usually be found curled up on Grissom's office couch with her nose in a book.

After five days had passed, Captain Brass returned from investigating the Glendive Orphanage in Montana, looking very unhappy.

"Where's Katie today?" he inquired of Nick and Warrick when they reported to his office as requested on their fifteen-minute break.

"She's at the park with David Phillips," Nick answered. "It's his day off."

The young coroner had taken an instant liking to Katie, and on his day away from work, he had invited the girl to come to the park along with his niece and nephew.

"Good." Brass took a big swallow of coffee and set the cup down. "Kids need to play...run around...have fun. God knows a lot of them don't even know what 'fun' is."

"What did you find?" Warrick asked, eager to get some information.

"That place is hideous," Brass said grumpily, tossing a thick folder onto his desk. "And these photos prove it. Just like the kid said, only ten times worse."

Warrick grimaced as he picked up a few photos. "Man. I even feel sorry for the cockroaches."

Nick agreed. "I don't want to be within fifty feet when Sara and Griss see these."

"Hell hath no fury like a Sidle scorned," Brass stated dryly.

Nick snickered. "Couldn't have said it better myself." As he scanned through the photos, a thought occurred to him. "Hey, how'd you manage to get pictures of the inside, anyway? Going there unofficially, you couldn't possibly have had a warrant."

Jim Brass grinned. "Well, I guess you could say I kind of charmed my way in."

Nick raised a somewhat amused eyebrow at him, afraid to ask for any specific details.

"What about that girl who tried to burn the place down?" Warrick asked.

Brass opened another folder and showed them a picture of a young teenager. "Amy Madison. Fourteen-year-old aspiring pyromaniac...with multiple personalities."

The police Captain held up a sheet of paper. "Personalities One and Two deny all knowledge of any fires. Personality Number Three, however, admits to every single one. Burn patterns in various rooms support the claim, and the fire department was called in at least twice to hose down flames on the front lawn."

Nick took the folder from Brass and scanned its contents. His normally calm features were now set into a definite scowl as he seethed with anger.

Warrick's expression mirrored Nick's. "That place _needs _to burn to the ground!"

Brass snorted an agreement. "Here's the real kicker, guys. I asked Abigail Melly, that so-called Headmistress, if they'd had any kids run away recently. I didn't tell her we had one of hers. Her reply was, and I quote, _'We've got too many brats here to keep track of them all. If they want to run off and get themselves killed, good riddance'_."

Warrick and Nick gaped at Brass.

"She said that?" Warrick choked out, shooting a glance at Nick.

Nick's fists were balled up tightly and Warrick could swear he saw smoke coming out of his friend's ears.

Nick jumped up from his seat. "Excuse me," he said stiffly through clenched teeth. His feet took him out of Brass' office and down the corridor.

He found himself in the locker room.

He stared at his locker for a moment, then turned the dial and opened it to look at the photos lovingly taped to the inside of the door.

The bottom picture was of his favorite childhood pet: an old German Shepard that everyone called Blue.

The second photo up from the bottom showed Nick playing tag football with his siblings, nieces and nephews.

His eyes scanned the door upward, past more friends and relatives, and finally they landed on the topmost photo.

It was a picture of Nick engaging his favorite niece in a tickle war. Nine-year-old Emma grinned happily as she hung upside down by her legs in Nick's arms, with her head near the ground.

Nick recalled her squeals of laughter as he had tickled her bare feet near his face, pretending he was going to drop her into the grass.

Emma was a lot like Katie. Sweet and honest, with brown hair, sparkly eyes, and a happy personality.

If anybody hurt precious little Emma, Nick would be the first one in line to defend her.

He was now feeling those protective instincts reaching out to encompass Katie too.

Nick fingered the picture with a wry smile, then gently shut the locker door.

He turned to leave the room, getting halfway to the door before violently punching the nearest locker.

Tears poured silently down his cheeks as he sat down and shook out his bruised hand.

Nick's tears weren't an expression of any mere physical pain.

He was in total emotional anguish.

He cried for Sara and for Katie and for Grissom...and for all the innocent children who were stuck in that hell called an orphanage.

A tentative knock sounded on the door. "You in there, Nick?" Warrick said.

Nick stood up, drying his tears on his shirt sleeve. "Yeah, I'm in here." He took a few deep, cleansing breaths, then opened the door and walked out.

Warrick followed him to the men's restroom, where Nick splashed cold water on his face.

Warrick leaned against the door with his arms crossed. "You alright?"

Nick let out a long sigh. "Yeah." He nodded his head, holding his bruised knuckles under the cool water. "I'm okay. It's just...I know we're not supposed to get emotional over a case...over the victims. But...I can't help it this time, you know?"

"This isn't just any case," Warrick replied in agreement. "This isn't just any kid. It's different, I know." He gave Nick a brotherly pat on the shoulder. "I know you care about Katie. We all do, man. At the risk of sounding like Grissom, we just gotta stay as calm as we can, solve our crimes on the clock, and then we can help Katie with the rest of our free time."

Nick dried his hands with a paper towel. "I know. Don't worry about me, bro. I'm not going to do anything stupid, like go torch that place myself. Although, it's not like the thought hasn't crossed my mind," he added with a grin.

Warrick breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, good. Now, come on. We got pictures to show Griss and Sara."

"You round them up, and I'll find Catherine," Nick suggested.

* * *

_To Be Continued..._


	10. Chapter 10

Sara nearly went ballistic over the orphanage information Nick and Warrick shared.

Grissom spent a few minutes in the hallway, trying to calm her down.  He felt just as angry and helpless as Sara did, but Grissom had long ago made it a force of habit to simply suppress his emotions rather than let them show.  

With her jaw clenched, Sara quietly returned to Grissom's office, with her supervisor following close behind.  She solemnly folded her arms across her chest and rested a hip against the side of Grissom's large metal desk.

Grissom squeezed her shoulder gently before sitting in his chair again.  He was worried about Sara.  She had a strong tendency to throw her entire being into solving a case, and the Murder/Suicide she was currently working was no exception.  

Concerned about the possibility of a mental burn-out, Grissom decided that Sara needed to take a little time off, to rest her brain, body, and emotions.  He mentioned it to her after he dismissed the others.

"Grissom!" Sara objected.  "No!  I don't need a day off!"

Stubbornness was a great strength for Sara, but Grissom feared it would also be her downfall.

He took off his glasses and set them on his desk.  "Sara.....you're working yourself too hard.  You need to rest.  Now, I know you don't want to hear it, but I care about your health and well-being."

Sara rubbed her forehead tiredly and sighed.  "Look, Grissom.  I appreciate your concern.  Really, I do.  But I need to be here.  I _want_ to be here, doing my job and helping people."

"You're running yourself ragged, Sara.  You're working nearly twice as many hours as is healthy, and now you have the strain of this orphanage mess too," Grissom rebutted.  

Seeing that his words were having no effect, he tried a new approach.  "Listen, I'll make you a deal.  I'm suggesting a week's vacation, starting as soon as this shift ends.  Spend some quality time with Katie.  She needs that.  Go do fun stuff.  Watch movies......paint your toenails.  Talk about boys.  Get fat on ice cream sundaes," he added with a teasing smile.  "Do whatever it is that girls do to relax.  If you do that, I promise to get off your back about it."

Sara regarded Grissom warily.  "Really?  You promise?"

He gave her an easy smile and held his hand towards her.  "For a little while, anyway.  Deal?"

"I guess I could handle a week off," Sara admitted.  She shook his hand in a business-like manner.  "You got yourself a deal.  And I'm gonna hold you to that promise," she said, leaving Grissom's office to catch up with the guys.

*           *            *

"They didn't even report me missing?" Katie asked, unable to mask the hurt in her voice.  "I'm......I'm glad they're not coming after me, but...... it kinda hurts to know they don't even _care_."

Sara put an arm around Katie and rubbed her shoulder.  She desperately wanted to mend the child's broken feelings.  "They're not good people, honey.  They don't care about anyone but themselves."  She lifted Katie's chin with a finger.  "You have people here who _do _care about you."

Katie gave Sara a weak smile.  

"_I_ love you," Sara continued.  "Grissom loves you.......Nick is convinced that you walk on water."

Katie's expression softened at the mention of Nick.  "He's pretty cool, too," she conceded shyly.

Sara's caring fingers gently brushed away the lone tear that had grown cold on Katie's cheek.  "Catherine likes you too.  And Warrick keeps bragging to everybody that you cracked that Home Invasion/Kidnapping/Murder case."

Katie giggled and rolled her eyes.  "I didn't crack any case.....I just showed them what was there!"

"You give yourself far too little credit, girl," Sara said, leaning back into her couch cushions.  She propped her bare feet up on the coffee table next to Katie's feet.

Katie solemnly compared their freshly painted toenails.  "Well.....what do you think?  I like the blue the best."  

Sara looked at her feet.  Each toenail had been carefully painted a different color by Katie.  

Sunny yellow on her big toes, followed by carnation pink on the second toes, then minty green, pale lavender, and finally sky blue on the smallest toes.  

Katie's steady hand had done a nice job, and Sara returned the favor, painting Katie's own toenails to match. 

Sara wiggled her toes.  "I like them all," she decided.

Her cell phone rang at that moment, inside her purse halfway across the living room.  "Oh crud," Sara muttered.  

The phone trilled incessantly as she shuffled towards it, walking strangely so as to avoid smudging her toenails.

She looked at the caller ID on the digital screen and answered the phone with, "You better not be calling me in to work."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Grissom answered.  "I was just calling to see what you girls are up to."

Grissom was calling just to shoot the breeze?  

Sara was hardly convinced.  She went back to the couch with the phone pressed to her ear.  "Well, actually, I took your advice."

"You're getting fat on ice cream?" 

Sara laughed.  "You wish.  No, we painted our toenails."  She looked over to the other end of the couch, where Katie was now painting her fingernails with the sky blue polish.

"Good," Grissom said.  "Good for you."

Sara decided to stop beating around the bush and find out what he was calling about.  "Griss, I know you didn't call just to chat.  What do you need?"

After a short silence, Grissom answered apologetically, "I need to pick your brain for a few minutes."

Well at least he wasn't calling her back to work after he'd already forced her to take the time off.  "You get five minutes," was Sara's answer.

"Thank you."  Grissom's current case contained a situational twist that had him perplexed.  "Nick and I are working a single homicide today.  A woman was shot in her car," he began.  "The bullet exited the victim's shoulder, penetrated the dash board, and stopped somewhere in the engine.  We're almost positive it's still in there, but we can't find it anywhere.  We have the suspect's gun, and a few eyewitness testimonies, but we need to find that bullet in order to match it up to the gun."

Grissom sighed and rubbed his forehead.  This case was bugging him to no end.  Whereas he was an expert on bugs, Sara was quite well versed in the ins and outs of car mechanics.  "And seeing as you have taken apart more cars than I have, I wondered if maybe you knew a few tricks you could share with me?" he asked hopefully.

Sara thought for a moment.  "You know," she began.  "Back in San Francisco, I had a murder case like that.  We knew the bullet was in the car, but nobody could find it.  Jamie, my case partner, helped me take apart that entire car.  Amazingly, we found the bullet."

Grissom perked up.  "Where?"

Sara grinned at his enthusiasm.  "Well, the bullet was small enough that it managed, somehow, to work its way backwards through the fuel line.  It ended up in the gas tank."

"No kidding?" 

"No kidding," Sara confirmed.  "Bullets can be sneaky.  Check the gas tank, check the brake fluid system.....it could have even gotten into the oil reservoir."

"Sara, you're fantastic!" Grissom exclaimed.  "Gotta go.  I have a car to finish dissecting."

"Hey, let me know when you find the bullet," Sara requested.  

"Sure thing.  And thanks!"

Sara hung up her cell phone, laughing and shaking her head.  "I'm gone for half a day and the man's lost already."

Katie snickered.  "Men!" she declared dramatically.  "What would they do without us?"  She picked up the bottle of lavender polish and started to paint Sara's fingernails with it.

Sara laughed.  "They'd go play baseball all day, and nothing would ever get done."

Katie finished Sara's right hand and started on her left.  "So what do we do while this stuff dries?  If we touch anything, it'll get goobered."

Sara considered this.  "That's a good question."  Her eyes scanned the small living room, hoping to find an inspiration.  Her gaze settled on the TV in the corner.  "We could watch TV," she suggested.  "I have a cabinet full of movies."

"Yeah!" Katie agreed, painting Sara's last fingernail.  "But how do we get the videos out of the boxes without messing up our polish?"

Sara stood up and walked over to a small cabinet.  "Strategy, my dear Watson," she answered.

Katie knelt next to her on the floor and read the titles on the video box spines.  "Can we watch this one?" she asked, pointing to a western entitled _Ruby Red Spur_s.

"Sure."  Sara carefully extracted the video box from the cabinet with her knuckles, and proceeded to shake the video cassette out of its cardboard cover and onto the floor.  Then she gingerly picked up the cassette, blew off the dust, and popped it into the VCR.  

Then they sat back on the couch and enjoyed their movie.

Two hours later, Sara's cell phone rang again.  "Did you find it?" she asked by way of greeting.

"You'll never guess where," Grissom answered happily.

"Umm.....gas tank?" Sara ventured, thinking back to the case she had told him about.

"Brake line!" Grissom exclaimed.  "Craziest thing.  Nick bled the line, and the bullet came out covered in brake fluid."

"Awesome!"  Sara shared his enthusiasm over case-related matters.  "So did the bullet match up to your suspect's gun?"

"We couldn't have gotten a better match."  

Sara could practically hear him grinning through the phone.

"Thanks again for your help, Sara," Grissom said once more.  "I really do appreciate it."

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	11. Chapter 11

Three days into their vacation, Sara and Katie brought some homemade cookies into the lab to share with Grissom and crew before the night shift began.

Grissom looked up in surprise when they appeared in his office doorway.

"Don't worry, I'm still on vacation," Sara said immediately.

"We made chocolate chip cookies," Katie said proudly.  "Mom said we could share them with everybody."

Sara spoke again before Grissom could answer.  "And yes, Grissom.  I do know how to bake cookies."

Grissom frowned.  He hadn't even said a word yet, and Sara was already on the defensive.  

Deciding to ignore the slight snark in her voice, Grissom said, "Walk with me to the break room?  We can have them in there while I hand out assignments."

The trio walked through the corridors and into the break room, where Katie set the box of warm cookies in the middle of the table.  

Sara snuck one out of the box and bit into it.  

Katie gave her a mock stern look, which Sara countered with a mischievous grin.

The first thing Nick saw when he came in was the box on the table.  "Ooooh, cookies."  He grabbed a large one and shoved half of it into his mouth.  "Mmmmmmmm," he mumbled, chewing happily.  "Who's the chocolate chip artist?" 

Sara chuckled at Nick, brushing crumbs off the front of his shirt.  "Katie made them."

"You made these?" Nick asked Katie, who grinned shyly and nodded.  Nick licked some chocolate off his fingers.  "Absolute perfection," he declared.

Katie giggled.

"What's absolute perfection?" Catherine wanted to know as she followed Warrick into the room.

"Katie's cookies!  You gotta try one!"

"Well how can I, Nicky, when you're eating them all?" Catherine teased.  She pulled the box towards herself and chose a cookie.

"Those look good."  Warrick took two for himself.

Grissom reached out and snagged one from the box before they all disappeared.  

"Fabulous," Catherine said around a mouthful of cookie.  

Warrick agreed wholeheartedly.

Nick took a third cookie, leaving only one remaining in the box.  

Grissom quickly snatched that one up.  

Katie grinned at everyone's delight in her cookies.

"Cool toes," Warrick stated, looking down at Sara's and Katie's colorful toenails peeking out of their sandals.  

"Thanks," Katie and Sara answered together.

Grissom leaned around the edge of the table to look.  He raised an eyebrow at Sara's uncharacteristic choice of colors.  

Sara gave him a level smile.

"Hey, what are you doing here, anyway?" Catherine questioned.  "Aren't you supposed to be on vacation or something?"

"I am on vacation," Sara answered simply.  She offered no explanation as to her presence.

Grissom cleared his throat and began giving out assignments.  "Nick, Catherine.  Dead body found in the Bellagio Fountain."

"_In_ the fountain?  Yuck."  Catherine shuddered.

Sara snickered at her, receiving a dirty look.

Grissom continued on.  "Warrick, you and I also have a D.B.  Four Aces Motel."

"Okay," Warrick answered distractedly.  He was picking all the large crumbs out of the cookie box and popping them into his mouth.  He caught Katie's eye and winked.  

Katie smiled widely.

"Have fun tonight, you guys," Sara said.  "If anyone needs us, we'll be at home......relaxing."

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll have fun," Nick grumbled good-naturedly.  "Fishing for a body in a fountain."

"Aww, suck it up, soldier," Catherine admonished playfully as she followed him out the door.  "At least it's not a scuba diver in a tree."

Warrick also headed for the door.  "You're gonna bring us more cookies tomorrow, right?" he asked with a grin before disappearing.

"You see?" Sara said to Katie.  "I told you they'd like them."

"They were great," Grissom agreed, rising from the table to follow his colleagues.  "See you later."

"Bye, Grissom," Sara responded.

"Bye, Dad," Katie answered.

As he exited the break room, a shy smile stretched across Grissom's face.  Even though he had no biological claims to Katie, he loved hearing her call him 'Dad'.

*           *            *

The rest of Sara and Katie's vacation time passed relatively uneventfully.  Sara was actually somewhat relieved to go back to work solving the many puzzles of crime.

Catherine once again offered to let Katie stay with Lindsey and the babysitter, and once more, Sara politely refused.

"Katie wants to be here with me, Catherine," Sara explained.  "I appreciate the offer, but.....I kinda like having her around the lab too.  I don't know, I guess I feel like I can keep her safe when she's near me."  She chuckled at herself.  "God, I sound like an overprotective mother."  

"No, you don't," Catherine reassured.  "You sound like a caring mother who loves her child."

Sara looked through the Crime Lab's glass walls to where ballistics specialist Bobby Dawson was happily conversing with Katie.  

"You know........ever since I started working here, Grissom has been telling me to find a diversion outside of work," she confided to Catherine.  "And I finally took his advice.  I looked for a diversion.  But nothing really helped in the long run.  Hank was my final attempt, and look how that ended."

Catherine smothered a laugh.  "You know, I still feel bad about interrupting your dinner with that severed finger on ice."

Sara couldn't help laughing a little.  "Yeah, that _was_ pretty gross.  I think Hank even turned a little green."  She remembered the exact expression on Hank's face as the iced finger in a water glass was placed between them on the table.  "But it didn't matter in the end, anyway.  You couldn't have changed the fact that he had another girlfriend.  His real girlfriend," she corrected herself.  "After that, I quit trying."

"And then Katie came back into your life," Catherine said softly.  

Sara nodded slowly.  "After four years of being apart, my diversion found me."

"And she's the best diversion you could have," Catherine stated knowingly.  "Sometimes, I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have Lindsey to keep me sane."  With a smile, she patted her friend's arm, turned, and sauntered down the corridor to get busy on her case.

Sara sighed softly to herself, and came to stand in the Ballistics lab doorway, leaning slightly against the doorframe.  She watched in amusement as Bobby flaunted his skills and knowledge to Katie, who absorbed it all like a sponge.

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	12. Chapter 12

Katie entered the break room and headed for the vending machine.  

A tall man wearing a wrinkle-free light grey suit stood in front of the machine, seemingly undecided as to what he wanted to purchase.  

Katie waited patiently.

The man finally made his decision and opened his wallet to find a dollar bill.  As he pulled one out, Katie watched a folded ten-dollar bill drift to the floor.  

The grey-suited man didn't notice.  He inserted his dollar into the slot and pushed a button.

"Um, sir?" Katie spoke up timidly.

The man turned around.  His eyes took in the youth standing a just few feet away from him in the room.  With a trained eye, he spotted the visitor's badge clipped to her waistband.  

Although the printing on the badge was too small to read at that particular distance, the man observed that the colorless photograph was, indeed, the image of the young girl standing before him.

One eyebrow rose as he looked at her.  "Yes?" he said crisply, but not rudely.

Katie pointed in the direction of his feet.  "You dropped some money."

The man's eyebrow rose even higher.  "Did I?"  He looked down.  "Hmm, I did."  He picked up the cash and poked it back into his wallet.  "Well thank you, young lady," he said sincerely.

Katie graced him with a dimpled smile.  "You're welcome," she replied sweetly.

The man retrieved his can of pop, plucked the change from the coin return, and stepped aside, pausing momentarily in the doorway to look once more at the girl.  With a curious expression, he disappeared down the corridor.

Katie dropped two quarters into the machine and made her selection, pushing the "Pepsi" button.  

Sipping happily on her can of ice-cold caffeine, she walked through the hallways and back to Captain Brass' office.  

"Get what you wanted?" Brass asked without looking up.

"Yep," Katie replied.  She picked up her book and sat cross-legged on the chair in the corner.  "There was a man in there ahead of me.  He dropped money out of his wallet."

"He did, huh?" Brass continued writing in his report.

"Uh huh.  He looked real surprised when I told him his money was on the floor.  It was a lot, too.  Ten dollars."  Katie opened her book and wiggled around in her chair to get comfortable.

Brass smiled at her.  Most people would have been distracted by the girl's chatter, but he found it rather comforting.  

Deep down, he felt that watching over Katie was compensation, albeit a small one, for his past failures with his own daughter.  "I'm sure the man appreciated your honesty in turning it in."

"Well, it wasn't mine to keep," Katie stated matter-of-factly.  "Not telling him would have been the same as lying."  

"That's true," Brass answered.  "That's very true."

Katie fell silent.  

Brass glanced over his shoulder and found her deeply absorbed in her book.  He chuckled to himself and finished up his report.

Katie read her book from front to back in forty-five minutes.  With nothing else to do, she put the book away and looked up at the clock.  

In approximately twenty minutes, Greg would come back from another jaunt of field training, and Katie would watch him work magic with DNA samples.  

Katie squinted one eye and peered into her Pepsi can.  There was one swallow left.  She drank it and tossed the can into the recycle box by the door.

Then she sat quietly, watching the seconds tick by on the clock.

Brass, meanwhile, completed his paperwork and set it aside.  He leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms.

"So, what kind of books do you read, Katie?" he asked.

Katie's eyes lit up.  Books were one of her favorite things to talk about.  "I like mysteries," she answered.  "And sometimes science fiction."

"Yeah?  I like science fiction too.  Do you like westerns?  Cowboys on horseback?"

"Only the ones by Louis L'Amour," Katie replied enthusiastically.  "Nobody can write westerns like he can."

They conversed for a while about their likes and dislikes in the world of literature.  

A movement caught his eye, and Brass looked up to see someone walk past his open door.

It was Conrad Eckley, the day-shift supervisor everybody loved to hate.

Eckley glanced inside, and paused to smile and wave at Katie.

Katie waved back.

"Do you know him?" Brass questioned with a slightly furrowed eyebrow.  As far as he knew, Eckley wasn't aware of Katie's existence.

"Well, kind of," Katie answered.  "That was the man who dropped his money by the vending machine.  I think he's nice."

Brass' eyebrows raised in surprise, but he said nothing.  He couldn't wait to tell someone that Katie had befriended the infamous Conrad Eckley.

After Greg whisked Katie away, Brass spotted Warrick Brown sauntering down the hallway.  

Warrick heard the news first-hand from the police Captain, then he went to find Nick in the building.

"Yo, Nick!"

"What's up, man?" Nick answered, adjusting a microscope.

Warrick swaggered into the room.  "You'll never guess."

"You're not gonna try some crazy Grissom riddle on me, are you?  Cause I'm kinda busy here."  Nick adjusted two tiny screws with a small precision screwdriver and peered into the microscope again.  

"What's wrong with the scope?" Warrick wanted to know.

"I don't know."  Nick shook his head.  "Somebody messed it up.  Doesn't focus properly.  I think maybe a lens got knocked out of whack or something."

"Hmm."  Warrick briefly considered this.  It was probably Hodges, the lab tech with an attitude.  "Well, as I was saying, you'll never guess what I heard."

"Hey, man, I thought Catherine was the gossip queen," Nick teased with a quick grin to his friend.  He wiggled a knob on the side of the microscope and adjusted another screw.  "So, what did you hear?"

Warrick couldn't keep the enormous smirk off his face if you paid him to.  "Guess who Katie made friends with today."

Nick thought for a moment.  "Sheriff Mobley," he said.

"Well, close.  But not quite."  Warrick leaned his knuckles on the counter top and grinned down at Nick.  "Eckley."

Nick grabbed at the counter ledge to keep from falling off his stool.  _"Eckley?"_ he squeaked.  "Conrad Eckley?"

Warrick nodded fervently.  "The one and only."

"No way!" The Texan drawled.  "Nuh uh.  You're pulling my leg, man."

Warrick held his hands up in defense.  "Don't believe me?  Go ask Brass.  Better yet, go ask Katie."

"Maybe I will," Nick replied with another grin.  He adjusted one more part on the microscope, and peered into the eyepiece.  "Ha!  I fixed it!"

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	13. Chapter 13

Long after shift ended one afternoon, Grissom and Sara worked on the tail end of their case paperwork in Sara's living room.  

They worked quietly side by side, occasionally exchanging a few words, but mostly just writing and sipping on iced teas.

Katie was asleep in her bedroom, clutching her stuffed teddy bear in her arms as she usually did while sleeping.  

Sara checked on her after a while, then sat back down on the living room floor and continued on her stack of papers, using the coffee table as a desk.

They worked in silence for a little while longer, until a scream brought Grissom and Sara running to Katie's room.

"No!  Amy!  No!"  Katie tossed around in her bed in a cold sweat, clutching at the sheets.  "It's hot," she whimpered.  "The flames are _hot_!"

Sara tore the blankets away and wrapped her arms around the child.  "Katie!  Wake up, honey!  You're having a nightmare."

_"Amy!"_  Katie's eyes popped open with a final scream, which soon turned into hysterical sobbing as she hung on to Sara for dear life.

"It's okay, honey.  You're safe now.......it's okay," Sara soothed, rocking her gently.  

Grissom disappeared into the bathroom.  He came back with a cool, moist cloth and gently wiped at Katie's fevered forehead.

Sara squeezed her eyes shut against her tears and held the trembling child close.  She felt a warm hand on her face, and opened her scared brown eyes to a pair of concerned blue ones.  

Grissom didn't say a word.  He just knelt on the bed, brushed Sara's tears aside and wrapped strong arms around them both.

*           *            *

Katie went back to sleep about an hour later.  

Grissom had retreated into the kitchen not too long ago, and now Sara sat on the edge of Katie's bed, watching her sleep.  

Her slumber seemed to be peaceful this time.

Sara felt more anger than pain for her sweet little Katie.  How dare anyone subject a child —— any child —— to a life that horrid!

Sara angrily left the room, stalked down the hallway, and entered the kitchen.

Grissom sat at the small kitchen table with his chin propped up on one hand.  His lips were pursed in thought as he gazed ahead without any exact focal point.

"Nobody's putting her back in that place," Sara said with determination as she paced back and forth in front of him.  "They'll have to go through me first."

"Sara?"

"I'll burn down that rat-hole myself, if I have to."  Sara clenched and unclenched her fists.

"Sara."

"What kind of people would deliberately put a child into a place like that?" Sara demanded.  "I should have fought them," she muttered to herself, thinking about her cruel aunt and uncle.  "I should have taken Katie and left the country."

"Sara!"  Grissom grabbed her arm as she passed in front of him again.  "Please sit down.  You're making me dizzy."

"Sorry."  Sara stopped her pacing and leaned a hip against the counter.  But she couldn't stand still for very long.  She pushed herself away from the counter and snatched a bottle of water from her refrigerator.

Grissom groaned, closing his eyes and pressing the heel of his hand against his forehead.  

Sara gave him a sympathetic pout.  "Migraine?"

Grissom nodded painfully.

"I'm sorry," Sara answered sincerely.  She retrieved his migraine pills from his jacket pocket and gave him one, along with a bottle of water.

"Thanks."  Grissom washed down the pill.  He capped the water bottle, and absently rubbed at the back of his neck.  Sitting hunched over his desk the day before had taken its toll on his neck and shoulders.  The migraine didn't help matters.

Needing to make herself useful, Sara came to stand behind Grissom.  She gently removed his hand from his neck and started a shoulder massage.

Grissom smiled and closed his eyes.  "That feels good."

"You forgot I had magic fingers, huh?" Sara commented lightly as she worked the kinks out of his muscles.

Grissom didn't answer.  He just sat back and enjoyed the massage.  

"I expect a foot rub in return," Sara continued in a feeble attempt to lighten the mood.  She didn't really expect Grissom to massage her feet, though she had to admit the idea did sound quite pleasant.

"Okay," Grissom agreed without a second thought.

Sara's hands stilled as she peered down into Grissom's eyes.  "Really?"

Grissom smiled up at her.  "Sure.  Why not?"

Sara tilted her head slightly.  "Grissom, do you even know how to massage feet?"

He shrugged.  "How hard can it be?"

She smirked.  "Guess you'll find out."  Her hands were beginning to tire out, so she ended Grissom's shoulder massage there.

Suddenly feeling a headache of her own starting up, Sara grabbed Grissom's medicine bottle.  "How strong are these things?"

"Oh no you don't," Grissom replied, snatching the bottle from her hand.  "You know it's dangerous to take other people's prescription medicine.  Not to mention, against the law."

"Meanie."  Sara opened a cupboard over the sink and took out a bottle of Advil.

"Good girl," Grissom said with a smile, as if he were praising a puppy.

Sara swallowed two pills and playfully stuck her tongue out at Grissom, making him chuckle.

"You know, sometimes I forget who's the kid in this house——you or Katie," Grissom teasingly commented.

"Maybe both of us," Sara replied.  She smirked at Grissom and sauntered into the living room.

She moved a file folder off the couch and stretched out on her back, flinging an arm over her eyes.  "Don't you sometimes wish that life would just go away and leave you alone?"

Sara's question sounded so ridiculous to Grissom's ears that he paused in the doorway between the kitchen and living room, with an utterly confused look on his face.  

_What is she talking about?  Life only 'goes away' when you die......_

"Sara, that made absolutely no sense."  Grissom sat down on an armchair facing the couch.

"You see?  That's.......that's the beauty of it," Sara answered.  "That's the beauty of it, because life.......life doesn't make sense."

Grissom stared at her, perplexed.  

Either he was losing his mind, or Sara was starting to talk like that homeless woman, Cassie James.  

Sara continued on, "Life doesn't make sense at all.  I mean, one day you're in a happy, loving home and the next day.........the next day you're ripped away from it all and stuck in a rat-infested hole in the ground with people who don't even know you."

Ah, she must be talking about Katie.  "You're right," Grissom agreed softly.  "Life doesn't make sense."  He tried to imagine what kind of lives the other children had before they too were sent to the orphanage.

Sara rolled onto her side on the couch and propped herself up on one elbow.  "I want to adopt her."

Momentarily immersed in his own thoughts again, Sara's sudden statement threw Grissom off guard.  "Katie?" 

Sara rolled her eyes.  "No, Grissom, I was referring to Greg," she said sarcastically.  "Of course, Katie!  Who else would I be talking about?"  She didn't wait for an answer.  "I want to adopt her legally this time."

Sara gave a deep sigh, running her fingers distractedly through her hair.  "She's been here for almost a whole month now.  Ever since she walked back into our lives, I've felt like I'm constantly looking over my shoulder......worrying about every stranger that looks at Katie.  I'm terrified that someone's going to come and snatch her away again.  But if she's legally mine, Grissom, they can't touch her!"

Grissom solemnly studied her unwavering expression.  Much like Katie, once Sara made up her mind to do something, there was no talking her out of it.

And considering the circumstances, he backed her decision wholeheartedly.  Adoption would be the best thing in the world——for both Katie and Sara.

"Can you do that?" he asked cautiously, not wanting her to get her hopes up and then be disappointed again.  "Um, aren't your aunt and uncle still Katie's legal guardians?"

Sara frowned at the floor.  "I don't know.  But wouldn't they have had to give up their rights when they left her in the orphanage?  I mean, once you leave a kid there, you're done with them, right?  They're no longer under your care."  

Grissom nodded.   "There should be papers.......or something........that gives the orphanage full rights to her guardianship."  

Sara took a deep breath and boldly ventured, "Maybe I could convince the owners of that fire—trap orphanage to let me adopt Katie."

"They couldn't possibly have anything to lose by letting you adopt," Grissom agreed, grasping at that small glimmer of hope.  "There wouldn't be any logic at all in their trying to prevent it."

"They want kids to have decent homes, don't they?" Sara immediately followed his line of reasoning.  "And any judge would agree that the dump Katie was living in doesn't even come close to decent."

_She can't do it alone,_ Grissom thought to himself.  _That's too big a burden for just one person._  "I'll help you," he offered softly.  

Sara looked up at him, her eyes still bright from her previous anger.  "Really?  You will?"

Grissom nodded.  "Whatever you need, I'll help.  I told you once before that you wouldn't be alone.  You remember?"

"I remember."  Sara gave him a genuine smile, feeling a small weight being lifted from her shoulders.  "Thank you, Grissom.  Your support means a lot to me."  

Grissom returned her smile.  His eyes were drawn, almost against his will, to gaze upon Sara's lips in the half-light cast by the lamps.  

His subconscious had long ago memorized the curve of her mouth, and his mind now reveled in the sweetly torturing fantasy of tasting those forbidden lips.

He blinked, and the spell was broken.  Grissom looked down, clearing his throat softly and praying that Sara hadn't read the emotions in his eyes.

He shyly poked at one of the case folders on the coffee table.  "Guess we probably should get back to work, huh?"

"Yeah," Sara agreed with a small smile.  She moved over to make room for him on the couch, and scooted her case folder to her end of the coffee table.  

They worked steadily through to the end of their paperwork.  

Grissom finished his papers first.  He shut the folder, tossed his pen down, and leaned back against the couch cushions.  "Glad that's done."

"Speak for yourself," Sara said without looking up.  "I still got half a page here."

"Slow-poke," Grissom accused lightly.

"Speedy Gonzales," Sara tossed over her shoulder.

Grissom chuckled.  He enjoyed bantering with Sara; it was always a strong battle of wits.

Sara finished her half page, closed her folder, and set her pen down on the exact middle.  She took a sip from her water bottle, then turned sideways on the couch and put her bare feet on Grissom's legs to receive the foot rub he had promised her.

"No tickling this time," Sara warned with a smile.

"Yes, ma'am," Grissom gave her a mock salute and picked up her left foot.

The massage felt heavenly.  

Grissom's gentle manipulations of her foot muscles lulled Sara into a sleepy state of semi-consciousness.  She smothered a yawn, closed her eyes, and sunk down onto her back on the couch cushions.

*           *            *

Sara rolled over and stretched.  Although her brain was still half asleep, a nagging thought at the back of her mind told her that something wasn't quite right.

She opened her eyes, expecting to see her living room coffee table.  She was greeted instead by her bedroom wall.

_Bedroom?_  The last thing she remembered was her couch and Grissom's foot massage.  "He must have carried me in here when I fell asleep," she told herself.

Sara was confused, to say the least.  She untangled her legs from the sheets and swung her feet over the edge of her bed.  _Not the first time I've slept in my work clothes.  Probably not the last time, either._

Sara rubbed her eyes and stood up, shuffling into the bathroom.  After a quick shower, she dressed in clean, unwrinkled clothes and blow-dried her hair into its usual style.

Meandering into the kitchen, Sara found Katie and Grissom sitting at the table.  Katie had a glass of orange juice with her bowl of cereal, and Grissom had a bagel and a cup of steaming coffee.

The sight of them eating breakfast together brought a smile to Sara's face.  "Hi," she said.

"Hey," Grissom answered with a smile.

Katie's mouth was busy with her cereal, so she just waved hello.

Sara gravitated to the coffee pot.  She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table.  "Did you sleep here?" she asked Grissom.

"Yeah, I did," he answered, embarrassed at being caught.  "I borrowed your couch.  I hope you don't mind."

"No, I don't mind.  That's fine," Sara assured.  "Just wondered."  Without invitation, she tore a small chunk off Grissom's bagel and popped it into her mouth.

Grissom narrowed his eyes at her.  "_My_ bagel," he said possessively.  

"_I_ bought it," Sara countered smoothly, eliciting a smirk from Grissom.

With motherly concern, she turned her attention to Katie and put a gentle hand on the girl's forehead to feel for a temperature.  "How are you feeling, sweetheart?"

Katie swallowed her mouthful of cereal and washed it down with a gulp of juice.  "That dream really scared me.......but I'm okay now," she answered bravely.

Sara gave in to the urge to wrap her arms securely around the child.  She squeezed Katie gently, kissing the top of her head.  "You know I love you, kiddo."

Katie returned the hug.  "I love you too, Mom."

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	14. Chapter 14

It wasn't until two days later that Sara was able to look into the process of adopting Katie.

The first order of business was regarding the child's current legal guardianship.

With a pounding heart, Sara called the Glendive Orphanage and asked to speak to the person in charge of Admissions.

A lady with a thick southern accent came on the phone, snapping her gum loudly into Sara's ear.

Sara gave a short introduction about herself and inquired about Katie's current guardianship rights. She grimaced as the somewhat unprofessional-sounding woman hummed off-key whilst searching for Katie's file.

"I know I seen that file somewhere," the woman said, mostly to herself. "Yep. Found it." She shuffled some papers around, then spoke again. "Now, I can't tell you much without getting in trouble--legal issues, you know--but I can say that this here orphanage _is_ Katie Sidle's legal guardian and residence. You want to know anything else personal-wise, you're gonna have to get a judge's say-so."

Sara took a deep breath to calm her jittery stomach. "How would I go about adopting Katie from your orphanage?"

"Well, what you gotta do is contact an adoption court. The judge will assign a social worker that can legally get a copy of Katie's file from us. But without that judge and social worker, we can't release nothing to nobody."

Well, at least Sara had some place to start. "Thank you for your help," she responded politely, about to hang up the phone.

"Hey, just between you and me, hun," the Admissions woman said in a low voice, apparently afraid to be overheard. "I'm glad that little girl found ya. You seem like a good, quality person to me."

Sara was surprised at the sudden compliment. "Uh, well, thank you..."

"I hope you get to keep her," the woman continued. "I don't care what Abigail says. Katie's a good kid."

Sara thanked the woman a third time, and finally hung up the phone. "One down, one to go." She searched the phone book for an Adoption Court, finding a large ad that looked promising.

She was informed that she would need to meet with a social worker, paperwork would be filled out, and her personal history and background would be investigated to determine if she was a suitable guardian for a child.

Katie's history and background would be investigated as well. An appointment was set up for a social worker from Child Services to visit Sara's home to interview them.

* * *

"Hey," Grissom greeted Sara with a smile when she entered his office before shift began that night. 

"Hi," Sara said rather softly, grinning from ear to ear.

"You look happy," Grissom observed. "I take it you have good news?"

Sara nodded enthusiastically. "The people running that orphanage didn't even argue when I told them my intentions. Believe it or not, the woman I talked to was actually supportive of it."

"That's great, Sara!"

"I need next Wednesday off, if that's okay," Sara continued. "Child Services is sending a social worker to talk to me and Katie that morning."

"No problem," Grissom replied. "If we need another person, I'll just borrow someone from Day Shift."

"Thanks," Sara said with a genuine smile, her eyes sparkling. "I really do appreciate your help in this."

"You deserve it, Sara," he responded warmly. "You and Katie both do. I think you bring out the best in each other."

Surprised by his compliment, Sara just smiled and looked away shyly. She glanced up at his clock and saw that it was time to get busy. "It's seven o'clock," she said, standing up. "Shift has officially begun."

Grissom looked at the clock, too. "Yeah. I'll be in the break room in a few minutes."

"Okay." Sara left his office and bounced down to the break room.

"Somebody took their happy pills today," Nick teased as he poured a cup of coffee.

Sara merely smiled. Nothing could possibly get her down today.

"Oooh, I want some happy pills too," Catherine put in, sitting at the table between Sara and Warrick.

"Funny, guys."

"Hey, where's Katie?" Warrick asked. "She's usually here when we get assignments."

"Oh, I dropped her off in the Questioned Documents lab," Sara answered. "Ronnie promised to teach her about forgeries."

"Forgeries?" Nick echoed. "Isn't that kind of a deep subject for a twelve-year-old?"

Catherine dismissed his question with a wave of her hand. "Katie's a Sidle. She can handle it."

Grissom entered the break room just then with a smile playing on his lips. "Greetings," he addressed the group.

"Whoa," Catherine said with a grin. "I think somebody else got into your happy pills, Sara."

Sara raised an eyebrow at her.

Grissom simply ignored the entire exchange. "We have one case tonight," he informed his colleagues. "Triple murder at the Tangiers."

"Triple?" Nick raised both eyebrows. "Wow."

"Yeah," Grissom agreed with a sigh. "It's going to be a very long night."

* * *

Six hours later, Grissom sank into his desk chair and opened his copy of their current case file. He perused its contents thoughtfully, searching in vain for the logic behind a successful casino manager shooting two of his best waitresses and then killing himself. 

Much as he tried to prevent it, an absurd theory caught fire in Grissom's brain. "Maybe the waitresses wanted a higher salary than what they were getting," he murmured to himself. "Eliminate the disgruntled employees...problem solved. But why kill yourself too?"

Grissom's unfocused, deep-in-thought gaze burned a hole into the corner of his desk.

He was startled out of his thoughts by the knock on his open door.

"You busy?" Nick asked his boss.

Grissom shook his head. "Not really." He closed the case folder and pushed it aside. "What's on your mind, Nick?"

Nick's mouth hesitated to form the question that had been on his mind all day. He furrowed his brow slightly, debating exactly how to put into words the jumble of thoughts in his head.

Grissom raised a waiting eyebrow.

"Well, I'm just...confused," Nick said slowly, taking a seat across from Grissom's desk. "You know how Sara says she's not good with kids, and that they don't like her either?"

Grissom nodded patiently.

"I just...I don't understand why she says that," Nick said, perplexed. "I mean, I see her with Katie, and it's like she's a completely different person from the Sara that I know. She seems...friendlier, more out-going. And she's wonderful with that kid. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen Sara as happy as she has been this past month with Katie."

Grissom considered this for a moment with his hands folded atop his desk. Finally, he spoke. "Nick, I want to tell you a little something about Sara. But what I tell you can't leave this room. Agreed?"

"Of course," Nick consented.

"How do I explain this?" Grissom paused, choosing his words carefully. "You know that Sara is a very..._complicated_ person," he began. "Her relationships with people are just as equally complicated."

He took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and gave a quiet sigh. "Now, what Sara says is true. She isn't comfortable with children in general, and this is often the reason why they don't seem to like her. It's quite different with Katie, though."

Nick listened intently, wanting to learn about the enigma that is Sara Sidle.

"From the very beginning of their lives together, Sara and Katie have shared a special bond. They've always been very emotionally attached. I suppose you could say their lives practically revolved around each other. Do you remember when we first explained who Katie was, that day she showed up here?"

"Yeah," Nick answered softly. "We all got a shock that day."

"When Sara said that it nearly killed her when Katie was taken away, she wasn't exaggerating," Grissom continued. "After Katie was gone, Sara sunk into a very bad depression. It was like she had just lost her will to live. I was so afraid she wasn't going to pull out of it."

"My god. She wasn't suicidal, was she?" Nick asked, alarmed.

Grissom shook his head. "No. She never had those kinds of thoughts. She lost interest in everything."

Nick breathed a small sigh of relief in the knowledge that his friend and colleague hadn't hit the suicidal rock-bottom depth of her depression.

"I went to see Sara in San Francisco after Katie was gone," Grissom confessed. "I spent about a week there, trying to pull her out of her depression. It was a very painful time for both of us..." Temporarily lost in his memories, Grissom's last sentence trailed off.

He quietly cleared his throat and added, "That's one of the reasons why I finally brought her here. I wanted to be able to keep an eye on her. Tragic as it was, the Gribbs shooting afforded me the perfect opportunity to convince Sara to come to Las Vegas."

Nick gave a humorless chuckle. "That's irony for you. The death of one CSI saves the life of another."

Grissom nodded grimly. "I think that when Katie came back into our lives, Sara found her one true happiness again: raising her adopted daughter."

"I'm glad they have each other," Nick said sincerely, twining his fingers together across his stomach and leaning back in his chair. "I used to worry about Sara, you know. She'd always bury herself so deeply in her work that she seemed to completely forget how to live for herself."

"We all worried about her, Nicky," Grissom answered, recalling his past pleading with Sara to find a hobby outside of her job. He watched over Nick's head as the two Sidles in question strode side by side past the open door and disappeared around a corner. "But I think they're both going to be okay."

* * *

_To Be Continued..._


	15. Chapter 15

"Miss Sidle?"  A short, middle-aged woman with bright orange hair stood on Sara's doorstep with a slim black briefcase in her hand.  

"Yes," Sara answered with a somewhat nervous smile.  "You must be Lana Stewart.  Please come in."

"Thank you."  Ms. Stewart followed Sara into the living room and took a seat on the edge of the couch, at a ladylike angle.

"Would you like something to drink?" Sara questioned hospitably.  "Water?  Iced tea?"

"An iced tea would be very refreshing," Ms. Stewart answered with a grateful smile.  "It's dreadfully hot today."

"I'll get it," Katie offered eagerly, jumping up from her place on the couch and darting into the kitchen.

Sara smiled at Katie's sudden lack of shyness.

"Is that Katie?  She's a lovely child," Ms. Stewart commented.  

"Yes, she is," Sara agreed with an affectionate glance toward the kitchen.  "She's one of a kind."

"Miss Sidle, do you mind if I take a quick look around?" Ms. Stewart asked.  "Procedure dictates that we visually investigate our clients' living conditions, for the sake of the children involved."

"Oh, of course.  And you can call me Sara if you like," Sara replied, standing up.  "Um, this is the main room, obviously."  She proceeded to take Ms. Stewart on a tour of the apartment.

Ms. Stewart took notes on a form attached to her clipboard, giving a few verbal compliments on the orderliness of each room.

"And this is Katie's room," Sara continued with the 'tour', opening the wooden door into the child's bedroom.

Ms. Stewart's eyes scanned the room.  "Small, but adequate."

Sara chose not to take offense at the truth in her statement.

"Is this a relative?" Ms. Stewart questioned of the photo booth picture of Katie and Grissom.

Difficult question.  How does one really explain Grissom?

"Uh, no.  Dr. Grissom isn't related to either of us.  He's my supervisor at work," Sara responded.  "He has been a good father figure to Katie."

Ms. Stewart wrote down a few more things, seeming momentarily satisfied with Sara's answer.

They returned to the living room, where Katie had set out three glasses of iced tea on the coffee table, thoughtfully including a plastic coaster for each glass.

"Thank you, sweetie," Sara said, taking a sip of her iced tea.

Katie sat cross-legged on the floor at Sara's feet, nursing her own glass of refreshing liquid.

"Well, let's get down to business, shall we?" Ms. Stewart removed the previously marked page from her clipboard, took another small stack of papers from her briefcase, and clipped them soundly to the board.  "The first thing I'll need is the contact information for the Glendive Orphanage," she said.  "Address, phone number, et cetera."

*           *            *

"I must say, this is quite a unique situation," Ms. Stewart said at the end of the interviews.  "Katie has been your daughter for many years, and you're just now getting the opportunity to adopt her legally."  Ms. Stewart gave an amused chuckle.  "Very unique, indeed."

Katie had long ago moved from her position on the floor.  She now leaned comfortably against Sara's side with one arm hooked loosely around the elder Sidle's neck.

Sara wrapped a loving arm around the child and asked the question that had been plaguing her from the beginning of the social worker's visit.  "She's not going to be put in a shelter or anything until the adoption is completed, is she?"

Ms. Stewart smiled warmly.  "No, I see no reason whatsoever to do that.  Katie's needs are being met under your care, and she seems to have a steady, consistent environment.  Most importantly, I can see that you two have a very healthy mother-daughter relationship."

"My mom's the best in the world," Katie declared proudly.

Sara smiled and gave her an affectionate squeeze.  "And my Katie's the best daughter in the world."

Ms. Stewart watched the exchange with a smile.  "What I'm going to do is submit the paperwork to make you Katie's foster parent so she can continue to live with you legally until the adoption goes through."

"That's great," Sara responded happily.

The social worker closed her briefcase and stood, signaling the end of the interview.  

Sara and Katie escorted her to the door, and both of them shook her hand.  "Thank you so much, Ms. Stewart."

"It's my pleasure to help, Sara.  I'll contact you again in a few days to continue the process."  To Katie, she said, "Take care, my dear."

As soon as the front door shut, Katie let out an excited "Yay!" and threw her arms around Sara's waist.

Sara swung Katie in a giddy circle, almost knocking over the lush orchid Grissom had sent her two years ago.

"What do you say we call Grissom and tell him the good news?" Sara suggested.

"Yeah!" Katie exclaimed.  "Can I tell him?  Please please?"

"Okay," Sara conceded, picking up the phone and dialing Grissom's cell number.

"Grissom," he answered.

"Hey, it's me," Sara said into the phone.  

"How did it go?" Grissom asked immediately.  "Do you get to adopt her?"

Sara laughed softly.  "Katie wants to tell you herself."  She handed the phone to Katie, who grabbed it eagerly.

"They're making mom my foster parent so I can still live with her until the adoption!" Katie said all in one breath.  

"That's wonderful, Katie-bug!"  Grissom was happy for them both.  "Tell me about the social worker.  Is she nice?"

Katie scrunched up her nose.  "She kinda smelled like old cheese."

Sara snickered at the child's accurate observation.

"But she was nice," Katie added.

"Good," Grissom said warmly.  "Hey, can I talk to your mom for a minute?"

"Sure."  Katie handed the phone to Sara.  "He wants to talk to you."

Sara took the phone.  "What's up?" 

"Well, first of all, congratulations on getting through Adoption Phase One," Grissom told her.  "And I didn't know if you'd heard, but Carvallo is planning a baseball game on Saturday.  Day Shift and Night Shift, plus any of our family members who want to play."

"That sounds like fun," Sara answered with a grin, flopping down next to Katie on the couch.  "But who's going to be solving crimes if everyone is out playing?"

"Well, you're not gonna believe this," Grissom told her.  "They're closing up the building for the day."

Sara was surprised, to say the least.  "You're kidding!  What if we get crimes called in?"

"If we do, then we'll get called in to work.  But if not, we get a whole day of playing baseball."

"Wow.  Hold on while I confer with the good twin," Sara said.  Momentarily taking the phone from her ear, she turned to Katie.  "How'd you like to play some baseball on Saturday?"

"Sure!" Katie answered with a grin.  

"We'll be there," Sara told Grissom through the phone.

"Good," Grissom answered.  He paused a moment, then asked hesitantly, "Um, Sara?  You do know how to play, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Sara exclaimed indignantly.  "Everybody knows how to play baseball."

Grissom could tell by the offensive tone in her voice that she wasn't exactly telling the whole truth.  "Sara," he chided gently, trying not to laugh.

"What?  I've.......watched it before........on TV."

"You've 'watched it before'?" Grissom echoed incredulously.

Sara sighed unceremoniously.  "Oh fine!  I've never picked up a baseball bat in my entire life."  She could almost hear the smirk she imagined was on Grissom's face.  "And stop laughing at me."

"I'm not laughing," Grissom insisted, choking back his amusement.  He cleared his throat.  "Tell you what.  After shift tomorrow, we can go to a park and I'll show you some pointers.  Okay?"

_I hope I don't regret this,_ Sara thought to herself.  Into the phone, she said, "Okay."

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	16. Chapter 16

"What's he doing here?" Sara questioned Grissom as she shut the door of her Tahoe.

"Nice to see you too, Sara," Nick answered with mock hurt.

Sara flashed him an apologetic grin, and Nick couldn't help but smile back.

Katie immediately bounced over to Nick's side, with a friendly smile for her favorite 'Uncle'.

"If you're going to swing at a ball, there has to be someone pitching it to you," Grissom explained simply.

_Well duh, _Sara thought to herself.  "Isn't that what you're here for?"

"He's gonna show you how to swing the bat," Nick piped up with a grin.  "But I get to throw the ball at you."

"Will you teach me to play, too?" Katie asked.  "Please, please?"

"Of course we will, shorty," Nick promised, ruffling Katie's curls.

"If you tell anyone I needed baseball lessons, I'll hunt you down," Sara threatened Nick and Grissom.

"Your secret's safe with me," Nick replied.  He playfully hooked an arm around Katie's neck and added, "Not so sure about this one, though.  She might spill the beans when put under pressure." 

Katie wrinkled her nose up at Nick, who laughed and winked down at her.

They started off toward the baseball diamond, with Nick and Katie in the lead and Sara and Grissom trailing after.

"She's got him wrapped around her little finger," Grissom commented, keeping his eyes focused on the man and pre-teen girl ahead of them.

"Kinda reminds me of you," Sara responded lightly.  "Katie idolized you so much.  I think she still does...."

Grissom gave a half-smile.  "I was a lot younger back then."

"Not very much younger," Sara contradicted softly.  "You're not exactly old right now."  

Grissom looked at her questioningly but said no more, for they had reached the dusty baseball diamond.  Putting his mind on the task at hand, he gave a wooden bat to Sara.  "You want to put your hands right about here."  

Sara shook a lock of hair out of her eyes and wrapped her fingers around the bat.

"Good.  If you hold it too far down, or choke up too far, you won't have good control over it."

"That's true," Nick interjected.  "My brother bashed a neighbor's mailbox with a bat once when we were kids.  He held it too loosely and it came back up and bonked him in the forehead."

Sara stared at him in shock.  "Mailbox bashing?  That's awful, Nick!"

"Don't gotta tell me," Nick answered.  "I never smashed mailboxes.  Worst thing I ever did was cow tipping."

"Cow tipping!" Grissom snickered openly.

Sara shoved Nick's shoulder.  "That's just _mean!_"

"We were kids!" Nick defended himself and his brother.  "We didn't know better!"

"Didn't know better!" Sara exclaimed in disbelief.  "Nick, your Dad is a cop, and your Mom is a Public Defender.  You were raised by those law-abiding people, and your excuse is you 'didn't know better?'!"

Surprised by Sara's outburst, a wide-eyed Katie sought refuge behind Grissom, grasping his large hand with her small one.  Never before had she heard Sara use that tone of voice, and it scared her.

Grissom automatically put a protective arm around Katie's shoulders.  He looked from Sara to Nick, and then back to Sara, sensing an unfamiliar hostility rising from each.  "Hey, are we gonna stand around arguing, or are we going to have some fun?"

Embarrassed at being scolded by Grissom (and especially in front of other people), Sara looked down at her feet and mumbled, "Sorry."

"Yeah, sorry," Nick added with a forgiving smile to Sara.

"Okay.  So, what do I do with this?" Sara asked Grissom, referring to the wooden baseball bat in her hands.  

"Other than chasing Nick with it," Grissom answered.  "You hold it at an angle.....kinda like this.  Then when the ball comes toward you, just swing at it."  He stepped behind Sara, crouched down with his mitt, and directed Nick to pitch the ball.

Sara swung——and missed.

Nick burst out laughing.

Sara glared.  "Shut up, Stokes."

Nick toned his laughing down to a smirk, and pitched again.

To her embarrassment, Sara missed again.  "You threw it crooked," she accused Nick.

"Grissom, she needs help," Nick said, adjusting the baseball cap on his head.

"Yeah, she does," Grissom sent an apologetic smile to Sara.  "How about if we try a few practice swings, okay?"

Sara nodded, expecting him to take the bat and show her how it's done.  

Instead, Grissom stood behind her, placing one hand above hers, and one hand below hers, on the bat.  _I hope she doesn't kill me for this,_ he thought to himself.

Sara's pulse quickened and her lungs constricted.  Grissom's arms were around her, and his chest was pressing against her back and shoulders.  _What the heck?  He's practically hugging me!_

Grissom had only put his arms around her once before, and that was when Katie had her nightmare.  _He wasn't trying to comfort you,_ she stubbornly told herself.  _He was comforting Katie.  You just happened to be in the way._

"You need to relax just a little," Grissom was saying into her ear.  

Sara forced her body to loosen up slightly.  

"Good," Grissom praised.  "Now, just follow my movement."  

Together, they took some slow practice swings.  

"Just like that.  One smooth motion."  Grissom looked at Sara for confirmation that she understood.

"Got it," Sara answered.

"All right then.  Let's try this one together.  Nick?" 

"Yeah?"

"Throw," Grissom commanded.

Nick pitched, Grissom and Sara swung, and the ball sailed over Nick's head and landed in a bird bath with a dramatic splash.

"Oops," Sara winced, almost not even realizing that Grissom had let go of her and the bat.  

"You hit it!" Katie shouted.  "You hit it!  You hit it!"  She did a little victory dance in the dirt.

"Yeah, I hit it," Sara agreed.  "So there, Nicky!"  She childishly stuck her tongue out.

Nick stood there with a hand on his hip.  "Let's see you hit it without Grissom's help, huh?"

Sara struck a confident pose.  "Bring it on."

Nick retrieved the soggy baseball from the bird bath, and pitched it to Sara again.

Wood and pigskin connected with a solid "thwack!" and the ball flew through the air, landing far away in the sand pit under the row of steel swings.

"Whoa!" Nick exclaimed.  "Can you do that again?"

"Well, experiments do need to be repeatable," Sara replied breezily.  "Pitch it to me again."

Nick pitched the baseball several more times, and Sara hit it each time.

Grissom was impressed.  He proudly announced, "I want Sara on my team."

Katie gave Sara a thumbs-up sign.  Then she asked for her turn to be next.

Teaching Katie wasn't any different from teaching Sara, except that Grissom had to bend down to Katie's height while trying not to pull any major muscles in his back.

As soon as Katie mastered the art of hitting the ball, she wanted Nick to show her how to pitch.

"First things first," Nick answered.  "Before you learn to throw, you need to know how to catch."

"Here——use my glove," Grissom offered.  "I'm gonna take a break."

"Thanks!"  Katie put the glove on her left hand with a happy grin.  "Okay, what do I do?" she asked Nick.

Sara sat down in a grassy spot under a nearby tree and watched Nick and Katie interact with each other.  

In her mind's eye, the image of Nick and his baseball morphed into one of a somewhat young Gil Grissom, who was teaching little Katie to hunt for elusive butterflies.

Grissom silently joined Sara, with his eyes also on Katie and Nick.  

Out of the corner of his eye, though, he watched Sara.

Sara's eyes didn't seem to focus on anything in particular in front of her, and she had an oddly wistful look on her face.

Grissom furrowed his eyebrow slightly.  "You miss it, don't you?" 

Sara turned her head towards Grissom in surprise.  Had he read her mind?  "Miss what?" she asked innocently.

Grissom shrugged a shoulder, looking down at the grass.  "The good ole days?" he ventured.  "Having picnics in the park.....watching Katie gross people out with her frogs," he added with a grin.

Sara laughed lightly, remembering the child's strange fascination with amphibians.  "Yeah," she answered softly.  "I do miss it.  Don't you?"

_More than you know,_ Grissom thought to himself.  "Yes, I do....."  He cleared his throat softly and said, "You know, Catherine has this philosophy......'Never doubt, never look back'."

"Words to live by," Sara stated with a wry half-smile.

"Yet I can't help but wonder how our lives would have turned out if Katie hadn't gone to that orphanage," Grissom continued.

Sara considered this.  "I'd probably still be living in San Francisco," she replied slowly.  "And you'd probably still be wearing out your car driving back and forth between here and there."

Grissom meditated on that thought.  At length, he said, "I'm glad you're here, Sara."  With a teasing grin, he added, "And not just because I'm saving wear and tear on my car."

"I'm glad I'm here too."  Sara returned the smile, twisting a blade of grass around her finger.  "I'm glad we're all here."

Grissom nodded his agreement.  "Has Katie had any more nightmares?" he asked tentatively.

"No, and I pray that she doesn't," Sara answered.  "That kid's been through so much, yet she takes it all in stride........with incredible strength of mind."

"Definitely something she learned from you."  Grissom met her eyes and offered a small smile.

Taking the compliment at face value, Sara returned the smile.

The companionable silence that settled over them was interrupted by the approach of Nick and Katie.

Sara squinted up at them in the sunlight.  "What's up?"

Katie flopped down onto the lush, cool grass.  "It's too hot to play any more."  

Nick stood looking down at them, shading his eyes from the bright sunshine.  "I can't stay any longer, anyway."

"Hot date, Nick?" Sara questioned impishly.

"As a matter of fact, I am meeting someone for lunch," Nick admitted with a smile.  

"Anyone we know?" Grissom joined in.

Nick didn't provide any answer.  He merely grinned, slipping on a pair of dark sunglasses.  "See ya."  He gave them a casual wave and sauntered towards the parking lot.

He left an uncomfortable silence in his wake, which Katie used to her advantage.

"Can Dad come to the movie theater with us?" 

That caught Sara's attention.  Her hair nearly slapped her face from the sudden motion of jerking her head around to stare at Katie.  "Excuse me?"

"Can Dad come and see the movie with us tonight?" Katie repeated with an all-too-innocent expression.

Sara didn't know what to say.  An abrupt 'no' might hurt Grissom, making him feel unwanted.  And if she said 'yes', and he really didn't want to go with them.......well that would be just a little too awkward.

The safest route would be to leave it up to him.  "Sure......if he wants to go with us," Sara answered with an uncertain smile.

The impromptu invitation had caught him by surprise, but that didn't necessarily mean Grissom was opposed to the idea.

_Sara might not want you there,_ a voice in the back of his brain told him.  _What if it reminds her of her last movie partner, that two-timing paramedic?_

"I don't want to impose on your fun," Grissom answered, trying to mask the disappointment in his voice.

Sara picked up on the forced cheerfulness in his decline of the invitation.  _Who's he trying to fool?  He wants to accept, but is just too shy to say so._

"Nonsense," she said in an attempt to put Grissom at ease.  "You wouldn't be imposing.  We'd love to have you with us."

Grissom looked back and forth between the two girls.  "You sure?"

Sara laughed lightly at his indecision.  "It's not a million-dollar question, Griss.  Katie wants you there, and so do I."  

That was just enough to make Grissom accept the invitation.  "Okay," he answered with a shy half-smile.  

Sara smiled back at Grissom, both of them oblivious to the conniving, calculating gleam in Katie's eye.

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	17. Chapter 17

"Dad says he wants to pick us up instead of meeting us there," Katie told Sara as she hung up the cordless phone.  

_Voluntarily going out of his way to pick us up?  That's strange......_  "Any particular reason?"

Katie shrugged.  "He said something about saving gasoline by taking just one car."  

_Ah, the ever-practical Grissom._  "Oh.  Well.....I guess that sounds reasonable," Sara answered, shoving her feet into a pair of tan ankle boots.  

"You're gonna wear _that?_" Katie asked incredulously.

Sara glanced down at the t-shirt and jeans she had on.  "What's wrong with it?" she wanted to know.

Katie gave her a critical look.  "It's not very.......um.......exciting?"

Sara scoffed.  "We're just going to a movie.  Why do I need to look exciting?"

"I know it's just a movie," Katie tried again.  "But people are going to see you.  Don't you want to look better than.......just 'nice'?"

Sara rolled her eyes.  "All right, Miss Smarty-Pants.  What do you think I should wear?"

With a know-it-all smirk, Katie sauntered over to Sara's closet doors and opened them, scanning the racks for a likely outfit.

"Aha!"  She pulled out a shirt and pants.  "These!"

Sara was quite skeptical.  "Leather pants?  To go watch a movie?"

"Hey, _you_ bought them," Katie replied with a saucy grin.  "Come on, Mom!  Just try them.  They're a great shade of brown——almost the exact same color as your eyes.  And look——this creamy tank top goes _perfect_ with them!"

Sara sighed and picked up the brown leather pants, holding them up in front of the mirror.  _I bought these way back when I was seeing Hank.  He said women who wore leather pants fascinated him...._  "Well, here goes nothing."  

She changed into the leather pants and stood in front of the mirror.  "Hmmm......."  She turned to view each angle.  "They _do_ look good, don't they?"

Katie grinned.  "I told you so!  Here——try the shirt."

"Been having fashion chats with Catherine lately?" Sara remarked with a smirk as she removed her t-shirt and pulled on the sleeveless cream-colored top.

"Actually, I read one of her _Cosmo_ magazines," Katie admitted with a shy grin.

_Great,_ Sara thought to herself.  _Just what the world needs——a Catherine wannabe.  _She put her ankle boots on once more and grabbed her keys and purse.  "When's Grissom supposed to be here?"

Katie opened her mouth to answer at the same moment the doorbell buzzed.  "Right now," she said with a grin.  She sped through the hallway, and after taking a peek through the spy hole, she threw the front door open.  "Hi!"

Grissom's greeting died on his lips as Sara came into view.  His heart skipped a beat and his mouth went very dry when he realized what she was wearing.

Brown.  Leather.  Pants.

Hugging all the right curves in all the right places.

"Hey," Sara said with a bright smile.

Grissom snapped out of his daze, a slight blush coloring his features.  _Idiot.  You want her to think you were undressing her with your eyes?_

He cleared his throat softly.  "Hi.  Uh, you ready?"

"Yeah, I think so," Sara replied.  "Just let me make sure I've got cash.  The theater doesn't accept checks."  She dug through her purse, frowning slightly when she couldn't find what she was looking for.  "Hey, Katie?  Where did I leave my wallet?"

"Ummm.......I think it's on your dresser."

"Hmm."  Sara stopped digging and dropped her purse on the table by the door.  "I'll be right back," she said to Grissom.

Momentarily safe in the sanctuary of her bedroom, Sara let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.  _Darn him._  _Of course he'd choose to wear **that** shirt.  That long-sleeved denim in the most perfect shade of blue that beautifully emphasizes his blue eyes.  Why do I always grin like an idiot whenever he wears that shirt?_

With a silent determination not to make a fool out of herself tonight, Sara stiffly snatched up the wallet from her dresser top, pausing to grab the sweater that Katie had tossed on the foot of the bed.

Grissom and Katie stood up from the couch when Sara re-entered the living room.  

"Find it?" Katie questioned in reference to Sara's wallet.

"Yeah," Sara answered, controlling the grin that threatened to spread across her face when she glanced at Grissom.  "Ready when you guys are."  She handed the sweater to Katie, who scrunched up her nose in rejection.

"Aww, Mom!  I don't need a sweater.  It's still warm out."

"Don't whine at me, missy," Sara said in a no-nonsense tone.  "You know you get cold easily when the sun goes down.  Just tie it around your waist for now, and if you don't need it......no big deal."

"Sara's right, Katie-bug," Grissom said in support of Sara's mothering.  "Bring it with you just in case."

"Oh all right."  Obediently, but with a rebellious pout, Katie tied the sweater sleeves around her overall-clad waist.

*           *            *

The drive to the theater was rather quiet, with two somewhat nervous adults in the front seats and one precocious pre-teen in the backseat.

Sara silently observed Grissom's apprehension, until her curiosity got the better of her.

"Is something wrong, Grissom?"

His eyes darted to hers.  "No," he answered a bit shortly.  "Uh, why do you ask?"

"You keep looking at me out of the corner of your eye," Sara answered uncertainly.  "Do I have dirt on my face, or something?"

"Huh?  Oh, um......no," Grissom answered nervously.  "Your face is fine.  Um, I was just thinking that you look.......different tonight.  You look.....nice."  

"Nice, as opposed to how I usually look?" Sara responded in a dead-serious tone.

Grissom's face reddened as he realized how his attempted compliment must have sounded.  "That's not what I meant and you know it," he said with an embarrassed glance at Sara.  "You always look good......uh, nice," he stammered.  "I meant that tonight, you look, um......a different kind of......nice."

Sara stared at him with an odd look on her face.

Grissom cringed inwardly, hoping in vain that Sara wouldn't think he was _that_ socially backward._  You are such a moron, Gil_.  _One little sentence from her, and you're tripping over every word you say._

He was momentarily confused when Sara snickered and gave his arm a playful swat.

"Get your foot out of your mouth, Grissom," she said with a grin.  "I know what you meant.  I'm just messing with your head."  

_You mess with more than just my head, Sara,_ he thought to himself.  Unwilling to embarrass himself further by opening his mouth again, Grissom simply narrowed his eyes at her.

"But thank you.  For that compliment," Sara clarified with a genuine smile.  "And you don't look too bad, yourself."

Grissom returned the smile with a shy one of his own.  He steered the vehicle into the parking lot, found an empty slot in which to park the car, and shut off the engine.

"So.....this movie we're seeing," he said, changing the subject.  "You said it's a remake of a black-and-white film?"

"That's what the movie reviews say," Sara answered as they all got out of the car.  "I've never seen the original film though, so I don't know how accurate the remake will be."

"I'm sure it will be fine."  Grissom gave her and Katie a smile, reaching back into the car to grab his black leather jacket.

At the ticket counter, Sara opened her wallet to pay their admission, but Grissom stopped her by laying a hand on her arm.

"My treat," he offered.

"You don't have to pay our way, Grissom," Sara immediately protested.  

"I want to."  Grissom stubbornly paid for the three tickets before Sara could try to prevent it.  "I horned in on your night with Katie.  The least I could do is buy your movie tickets."

"All right," Sara conceded with a smile.  "But I'm buying the snacks."  She took the tickets from the pimply-faced teenager behind the Plexiglas window, handing one to Katie and the other to Grissom.  "And for the record, Grissom——you didn't horn in on anything.  We invited you.  Remember?"

*           *            *

The theater was remarkably crowded, but they managed to find three empty seats together.

"I want this seat!"  Katie darted past Sara and plopped herself down in the last seat.  At Sara's raised eyebrow, she said innocently, "What?  I can't see over the other people's heads."

Sara looked at the row of people directly in front of them.  The woman ahead of Katie _was_ a bit shorter than the others.....

"Are we going to sit, or should we find another theater?" Grissom asked a little impatiently.

Sara had assumed that Katie would want to sit between them.  But since she chose the end seat, Sara had no choice but to sit right next to Grissom in one of the two remaining seats.  Clenching her jaw shut, she shuffled into the row and sat in the empty seat next to Katie.  

Grissom followed suit, sitting beside Sara.

Sara glanced at him from the corner of her eye as she set her drink in the cup holder attached to the end of her armrest.  In the dim lighting, she once more caught sight of that blue shirt Grissom was wearing, and had to bite her bottom lip to keep from grinning again.

Whether Gil Grissom was clothed in blue perfection, or the ugliest shade of green, being with him in a dark space had always held its own appeal for Sara......but she also kept her awareness that he might tense up or withdraw emotionally at any time——just as he had been doing for the past year.

Pushing all unpleasant thoughts aside, Sara decided to just let happen whatever was destined to happen.  She gave Grissom a neutral smile and settled down in her seat, casually laying her arm on the edge of the armrest between them.

Grissom, too, found a comfortable position in his seat after a bit of shifting around.  His arm automatically gravitated to the cheap plastic bar that separated his seat from Sara's, perching confidently on the proximal edge.

Sara experimentally moved her arm just a smidge closer to Grissom, tensing involuntarily when her skin came in contact with his sleeve.

When Grissom didn't pull his arm away, Sara relaxed.  

Grissom could feel Sara's quick sense of ease, and was immediately struck with the childish impulse to give her arm a playful nudge off the armrest.

_Are you crazy? _A voice in the back of his mind piped up.  _You're already acting strange enough tonight, Gil.  Why confuse her even more?_

He quelled the urge to push against Sara's arm, and focused instead on the oversized movie screen.  

The film projector chose that moment to come to life, giving the movie patrons previews of more future releases they could spend their hard-earned money to watch.

*           *            *

Sara's legs were becoming cramped from sitting still so long.  She stretched them out, her feet reaching the floor under the seat in front of her.  She rotated her left foot in a circle, relieving the tension in her ankle.

She repeated the action with her right ankle, then brought it back down to the floor.  Her boot-encased foot promptly landed on something soft and squishy.  _Oh yuck._

She grimaced, immediately picturing in her mind what substance she had been subjected to.  Leaning forward to look, Sara's suspicions were confirmed.  "Ugh.  Gross."

"What's the matter?" Grissom whispered, bringing his face down next to hers.

The voice in Sara's ear startled her, causing her to look up into a pair of blue eyes that were much too close to her.

"Nothing," she whispered back.  "Just stuck my foot in a big glob of gum."  She gestured to the pink substance that had plastered itself to the sole of her boot.

Grissom looked at Sara's face, then looked at the gum mess.  Amusement was mirrored in his expression as he turned back to Sara.  "Be glad it was only gum," he told her impishly.  "You don't want to know what kind of things I've stepped in at theaters."

Sara gaped at him, repulsed by his implication of theater sanitation (or lack thereof).  "Oh my god," she whispered a bit too loudly.  "I'm never going to a movie theater again!"

Grissom attempted to cover his laughter with a somewhat unconvincing cough.

Some of the other movie patrons were getting distracted by Grissom and Sara's chatter, and the masked cough only served to further irritate them.

"Be quiet!" a large bald man hissed.  "Some of us paid money to _hear_ the movie, you know!"

"Guess we should quit yakking before we get thrown out," Grissom whispered to Sara with a grin.

Sara grinned back, giving his arm a gentle nudge with her elbow.  "You're the one talking."

"Hey, you started it."

Popping a candy chunk into her mouth, Katie cast a surreptitious glance at the two noisy adults whom she called 'Mom' and 'Dad'.  _They're teasing each other.  That's good.....but it's hardly considered romantic.  They need to hold hands.......or kiss........or at least do **something**!_

Oblivious to Katie's scrutiny, Sara scraped the sticky wad of gum off the bottom of her shoe and back onto the floor where it came from, and turned her attention back to the movie screen.

The next few minutes passed quite uneventfully, until they neared the middle part of the movie.

On-screen, the dashing Lord Alfonso had just entered the fancy sitting room of the pristine white mansion and caught sight of his beloved Marie.  
  
_            Alfonso:  "Your beauty astounds me, Marie my love."  
            Marie:  "Beauty? Alfonso, darling......since when have you ever cared about beauty?"  
            Alfonso:  "Since I met you, my dear."_  
  
Sara choked on her popcorn.

"Are you okay?" Grissom whispered in concern.

"I'm fine," Sara gasped.  Coughing profusely, she waved him off with one hand and grabbed her cup of Pepsi with the other hand.  

Katie's quick reflexes caught the bucket of popcorn before it could hit the floor.

It took three large swallows of her drink before the popcorn would dislodge from Sara's windpipe.

Unsure of just what he should do in such a situation, Grissom gently patted her back in an attempt to help soothe the coughing fit.

Taking one more swig of Pepsi, Sara managed to suppress the final urge to cough.

Grissom's warm hand lingered on her back as he leaned in to whisper, "What happened?"

Sara looked at him wide-eyed.  _Was I the **only** one who heard 'Since I met you' ?_  

She shook her head slightly at Grissom.  "Nothing.....just a dry piece of popcorn caught in my throat."

"God!" the bald man behind them huffed.  "Shut _up!_"

Clenching his teeth, Grissom said no more, not wanting to start a fight with the irate man.  He squeezed Sara's shoulder before letting his hand slide away and return to its place on the armrest.  

He mentally thanking the theater for having the lighting low enough that nobody could see the redness of his face, for Grissom himself had nearly choked on his drink when he heard _'Since I met you'_ loud and clear from the theater's sound box.

Willing his pulse to return to normal, he forced his mind to concentrate on the movie.  _If Alfonso calls Marie 'Honey' or says that she could light up a room, I'm out of here!_

Grissom was soon let off the hook, though, for not one more noteworthy line had been uttered through the rest of the movie.  He pushed himself to his feet, breathing a small sigh of relief as the ending credits rolled.  

*           *            *

The air was surprisingly chilly when Sara, Grissom and Katie exited the movie theater.

Katie dutifully put on her sweater when Sara told her to, but pushed up the sleeves to keep them out of her way.

Giving an involuntary shiver, Sara silently cursed herself for not bringing her jacket.

"Are you cold?" Grissom questioned at her elbow.

Sara gave him a sheepish smile.  "I grabbed Katie's sweater, but forgot my own."

In a gentlemanly gesture, Grissom took off his jacket.  "Here.  Take my coat."

"But then you'll be cold," Sara protested.

"I've got long sleeves," Grissom replied sensibly, draping the leather jacket over Sara's shoulders.  "You, however, have no sleeves."

Sara opened her mouth to protest again, but Grissom silenced her by holding up his first finger.  "No arguments.  I don't want my best CSI getting chilled and catching pneumonia."

_Best CSI, huh? _ Sara gratefully slid her arms through the large sleeves, the lingering warmth from Grissom's body heat enveloping her.  "Thanks," she said softly.

Grissom reached one hand up and gently freed Sara's hair from the collar.  His fingers filtered through the soft strands, letting it fall lightly onto the shoulders of the jacket.  _It's not a lie_, he thought to himself as his fingertips brushed against Sara's cheek.  _I never did know true beauty until I met you._

Sara stared silently back at him, mystified by the intimacy of his actions.

Grissom let his hand drop, breaking the silence with, "I think you're probably the only vegetarian I know who wears leather."

"Hey, this leather jacket's yours," Sara retorted with a smile.

Grissom smiled back.  "The jacket is mine, yes," he agreed.  "But those pants are definitely yours."

Sara was caught completely off-guard by his flirtatious comment.  _What's going on here?_  _He's acting like the happy Gil Grissom I knew years ago.  _

She pondered this in utter bewilderment as they walked to the car.

Grissom pushed a button on his key chain and the keyless entry system unlocked the doors for them.

Sara got in the front passenger seat; Grissom again took the driver's seat.

Katie took her place in the backseat and buckled her seatbelt.  "Mom, I'm hungry."

Sara turned halfway around in her seat to look back at the girl.  "You just ate a ton of candy," she said with a furrowed eyebrow.  "How could you possibly be hungry?"

"But that was junk food," Katie argued sensibly.  "I'm a growing kid.  I need real food."

"Maybe.......we could go somewhere for pizza or something," Grissom suggested, unwilling to return just yet to the cold loneliness of his own home.

"Ooooh, I _love_ pizza!" Katie declared with feeling.

"Isn't it a bit late to be eating pizza?" Sara asked in a vain attempt to dissuade them.  "Don't you think it's rather unhealthy to consume calories like that just before going to bed?"

Grissom gave her a look of mock offense.  "It's _never_ too late for pizza, Sara."  He winked and added, "Besides, there's a Pizza Palace not far from here.  We can be in and out in no time."

Katie poked her head between the two front seats, giving Sara an unobstructed view of her luminous, persuasive green eyes.  "Oh please, mom?"

Sara narrowed her eyes suspiciously.  _They always gang up on me.  And shame on me——I always let them get away with it._

"Fine," she relented.  "Let's go for pizza."

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	18. Chapter 18

"Family outing?"

Sara, Grissom and Katie looked up to find Catherine standing by their table with a curious smile on her face.

"Uh, yeah," Sara answered, a slight blush coloring her cheeks at the implication of the word 'family'.  "Something like that."

Grissom just nodded his agreement.

Katie simply chewed on her mouthful of pizza.

An awkward silence loomed over the table as Catherine grinned at them like a Cheshire cat.

_No wonder they say three's a crowd,_ Grissom thought to himself, wanting to hide from the blonde's intrusive, questioning stare.  _But in this case, I guess **four** is a crowd.  So go away, Catherine._

But Catherine made no move to leave.

Grissom softly cleared his throat and spoke up.  "Are you here with Lindsey?"

Catherine's eyes lit up at the mention of her daughter.  "Yeah......she's over there, with Beau," she answered, indicating a table a few rows away.

"Beau?" Grissom and Sara echoed together.

"Yep."  Catherine continued grinning.  "My date."  

"You brought your daughter with you on a date?" Sara asked, mildly surprised.

Catherine shrugged a shoulder, partially distracted by her attempt to get Beau's attention.  "Sure.  You brought Katie on your date tonight, didn't you?"

"It's not a date," Sara and Grissom both quickly answered, earning a snicker from Catherine.

"Yeah.  Right.  Date......Non—Date........whatever you want to call it."  From her peripheral vision, Catherine finally caught Beau's eye and waved her fingers at him.

Beau smiled and waved back.

Lindsey turned around to see what had captured Beau's attention, and realized who her mother was talking with.  "Hey, that's Katie!"

She scooted out of the booth and appeared at Catherine's elbow.  "Hi," she said to Katie.

"Hey, Lindsey," Katie answered back.

"Mommy, can me and Katie go play in the Kids' Castle?"

"If it's all right with Sara," Catherine answered Lindsey.

"Can I, mom?" Katie asked Sara.  "Please?"

"For a little while," Sara allowed.  "But finish your pizza first.  No reason to waste it."

Katie wolfed down the rest of her pizza slice, wiped her face, and jumped out of her seat to join Lindsey on route to the play area.

"Stay together," Sara, Grissom and Catherine simultaneously called after them.

"We will!"

The three adults shared an amused chuckle.  

"Ah, the joys of parenting," Catherine quipped lightly.  "Well......guess I'll leave you two kids alone."  She gave them a departing smile and joined her dark-haired date at their own table.

The sudden silence was almost overwhelming.

Sara gave Grissom a timid smile.

Grissom returned the smile with equal nervousness.  

Sara absently tapped her fingernails against her water glass, stopping abruptly when she realized what she was doing.  "Sorry.  Nervous habit."

Grissom chuckled shyly, looking down at his own hands that gripped his water glass.

Trying her hardest to control the grin that crept upon her face, Sara finally said, "All right......this silence is getting loud.  One of us needs to say _something_."

"I believe you just did," Grissom replied with a smirk.

Sara rolled her eyes.  "Smart-aleck."  

Grissom snorted, his own blue eyes dancing with amusement.  "So........"  _Think of something intelligent to say, Gil._

"Yeah........"  _You are pathetic, Sara._

"You wanna go see what the kids are up to?" Grissom finally suggested.

"Good idea," Sara agreed, relieved.

They found Katie and Lindsey crawling through the narrow plastic tunnels of the indoor castle-shaped jungle gym.

The only other children in the area were a few teenaged boys at the other end of the room, playing noisy arcade games.

Satisfied that the girls were safe from harm by any strangers, Sara and Grissom gravitated towards the large netted ball pit in the center of the room.

"I used to play in a ball pit like this when I was a kid," Sara told him.  "The balls weren't made of soft foam rubber like these are, though.  We had those painful plastic wiffle balls."

"What was painful about them?" Grissom wanted to know.  "They're just spheres with holes."

Sara raised an eyebrow at him.  "Have you ever been hit in the eye with one?"

"No."

"Well, I have," Sara replied.  "And it hurt.  Got a black eye from it.  It was a well-known bully who did it, too," she added.  "He thought it would be fun to try and make me cry."

"And did you?" Grissom asked.

"Cry?  Nope."  Sara gave him an embarrassed grin as they took a slow stroll around the large square net.  "No, I returned the favor.  I used my fist rather than a ball, but it basically had the same effect."

"Oooh.....scared of you," Grissom teased, coming to a stop beside Sara at the ball pit opening.  "I always knew that deep down you were a bully."

"A bully?" Sara echoed, turning to face Grissom with her hands on her hips.  "Me?"

Grissom smirked obnoxiously.  "Hey, if the shoe fits...."

All traces of humor gone from her face, Sara took a menacing step towards him, eyeing the ball pit directly behind Grissom.  "You think I'm a bully," she repeated flatly.  

The playful smirk slid from Grissom's features, replaced with a look of panic.  _Crap._  _Did I offend her?  Say the wrong thing again?  _"Sara, I'm sorry.  I didn't mean it."

Sara narrowed her eyes, taking one more tiny step towards him.  "A bully.  Well, how's this for being a bully?"  With a sudden saucy grin, she gave him a gentle push, propelling him backward into the ball pit.

"Hey!" Grissom exclaimed, landing on his back on the squishy spheres, sending balls of foam flying in all directions.  He stared up at Sara in complete astonishment.  "I can't believe you just did that."

Choking on her laughter, Sara replied, "I can't believe I did that either!"  In a moment of contrition, she held out her hands.  "I'm sorry, Grissom," she laughed.  "Here——I'll help you get out of there."

Grissom accepted the proffered hands, gasping them firmly.  But rather than bringing himself to his feet, he gave Sara's hands an impish tug, pulling her down next to him.

"Ack!" Sara squeaked.  "You brat!"  She blindly flung a foam ball at Grissom, hitting him squarely in the forehead.

He promptly chucked one back at her, snickering.  "Bully."

Sara ducked, letting the ball barely skim over her shoulder.  "Science geek."  

"So are you," Grissom returned lightly.

Sara tossed another ball.  "Bug man."

"Cookie maker."

Sara laughed again.  "Was that a compliment or an insult?"

"Umm......I'm not sure," Grissom answered with a chuckle.  "I think it was a compliment."

A shadow suddenly fell over them and a voice said, "God, I wish I had my camera."

Grissom almost cringed when he heard Catherine's voice behind him.  _Please......not again.  She really does know how to intrude on people's evenings._

"Because it's not every day you get to see your boss playing around like a kid," the blonde CSI boldly continued.

Turning around to look directly at her, Grissom gave Catherine a stern warning.  "One word about this to anyone, and you'll be getting every single decomp case for the next year."

"Hey, my lips are sealed," Catherine replied with an ornery smile.

Grissom gingerly stepped out of the ball pit, turning back around to offer Sara a hand.

Sara's warm fingers closed lightly around Grissom's, creating an almost palpable energy current between them as she, too, exited the pit.

"Thanks," she mumbled, letting go once her feet were on the floor.  She ran a hand through her tousled hair, attempting to smooth it back down.

Without even considering his actions, Grissom reached over and tucked a wily chestnut-colored curl behind Sara's ear.

"Well, I've got to get Lindsey to bed," Catherine said to whoever would listen.  "Lindsey!  We're going home now, sweetie."

Sara glanced down at her wristwatch.  "Oh wow.  Is it really that late?"

"I hadn't even realized," Grissom answered sheepishly.  "Get your sweater, Katie-bug.  It's time to go."

They bid goodnight to Catherine, Beau and Lindsey, who made a quick egress to the door.

Sara slipped Grissom's leather jacket around herself once again and grabbed her purse.  "So much for 'in and out in no time'," she said as they exited the Pizza Palace.

"I'm sorry," Grissom answered guiltily.  "It's my fault."

"It's nobody's fault," Sara contradicted lightly.  "They say time flies when you're having fun."

"Did you?" Grissom asked her with an unsure expression.  "Have fun, I mean."

A smile played about Sara's lips as she answered truthfully, "Yeah......I did."  She pulled Grissom's jacket closer around her shoulders, reveling in the simple knowledge that she was wearing something of his.  "Did you have fun?"

"You know.....until tonight, I'd almost forgotten what 'fun' is."

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	19. Chapter 19

Friday morning found Sara, Grissom and Nick gathered in Grissom's living room, a light beer and thick case folder for each of them.

Sara deemed the situation to be quite ironic, given Grissom's past apprehension at having other people in his house.

Yet Grissom seemed to have given up his phobia about the whole matter, because he voluntarily offered his own dwelling for them to meet after work hours and compare their case notes. 

Katie went home with Catherine, for Lindsey was hosting a sleepover that evening and had invited young Miss Sidle to attend.

"Don't you think it's really weird that the parents don't even have _one_ picture of their son?" Nick commented as his eyes scanned over a file page.

"It's not that weird, Nick," Sara murmured a distracted answer, engrossed in the file in her own lap.

"Oh, come on, Sara," Nick protested.  "What kind of people _don't_ take pictures of their kids?"

Sara glanced up, giving him a level glare.  "Maybe, being low-income tax payers, they can't _afford_ a camera.  Just because you have a family, doesn't mean you get all the expensive perks that come with it."

Nick put his hands up in defense.  "Hey, it was just a little comment.  Nothing personal.  Besides, I'm sure you have plenty of pictures of Katie to brag about."

Sara's head shot up.  She stared at Nick for a long moment, an unreadable expression on her face.  

A sudden moisture glistened in her eyes, and she abruptly broke the gaze, looking down at her case notes.  "No........I don't, actually," she answered quietly.  "Not anymore."

"What do you mean, 'not anymore'?" Nick asked in dismay.  "What did you do?  Throw them away?"

"Nick," Grissom warned in a dangerous tone.  "I suggest you close your mouth."

"No, Grissom.  It's okay."  Sara put a hand on his arm.  "He should know the truth."

In an oddly distant voice, she said to Nick, "I don't have Katie's pictures anymore because I burned them."

Nick stared at her in disbelief.  "You _burned_ them?  Why?"

"Because I couldn't bear to look at them after Katie was taken from me," Sara answered honestly.  In a soft tone that just barely hid the tremble in her voice, she added, "It was just too painful.  I burned every single one."

Grissom gave Nick a steely gaze, wishing he could slap a strip of heavy-duty duct tape over the younger man's mouth.  _Why did he have to mention the pictures?_  _Doesn't he realize the total devastation Sara went through?_

Sara stared unseeing at the worn edge of the Italian throw rug on Grissom's floor, deep in thought.  She sniffled back an unexpected tear.  "Every day, I wish I hadn't burned those photos.  I always want to look at them.......but at the same time, I'm afraid to."

Grissom's wrathful glare went completely unnoticed by its intended target, for Nick's attention was fixed firmly on Sara.  

"Hey......I'm sorry, Sara," Nick said with a sympathizing expression on his face.  "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories for you."

Sara gave herself a mental shake, vowing not to let those memories affect her in front of her colleagues.  "It's in the past.  What's done is done."

Grissom intently watched Sara's face, chewing his bottom lip in indecision.  _Should I.......or shouldn't I?_  

After an anxious moment felt only by Grissom, that little voice of conscience made the choice for him.  _Of course I should.  She **needs** to see those pictures again._

Grissom set his beer bottle on the coffee table and stood up.  "I want to show you something, Sara."  

He walked over to a large framed Monet painting and removed it from the wall, revealing a steel wall safe.  "Flood proof......fire proof.  Possibly even earthquake proof," he said in regards to the safe.  

Grissom dialed a quick combination.  "I keep my most valued possessions in this safe."  He swung the door open and removed a very thick leather album.

"A book?" Nick said in confusion.  "Your most valued possession is a book?"

"Not just any book, Nick."  Grissom took the case file from Sara's lap, replacing it with the album.  "Open it."

Sara eyed Grissom suspiciously, and opened the book.  

She gasped as her sight fell on the first picture of Katie.  "Oh my god," she whispered to herself, running a finger over the neat, precise handwriting captioning the photograph.

"Remember that one?" Grissom asked with a smile.  "Summer of ninety-six?"

"I remember," Sara quietly answered with a faraway smile as she fingered the photograph.  

_A curly-haired five-year-old girl swung happily on her brand-new swing set, while a relatively young Gil Grissom looked on in amusement. _

_He tossed the last tool back into his toolbox as Sara came out of the house with two tall glasses of iced tea._

_She handed him a glass, along with a smirk.  "I can't believe it took you a whole hour to adjust those swings."_

_"Hey, I had a lot of measuring and cutting to do," Grissom defended himself.  With a wink, he added, "Just be glad that contraption's finished."_

_"Glad?  I'm **thrilled**," Sara agreed, sipping her iced tea.  "And thank you so much for putting it up.  Now Katie will quit begging me about it."_

_"Yeah, next thing she'll ask for is a dog."_

"I kept every picture you ever gave me," Grissom told Sara.  "They're all in there."

A smile played across Sara's face as she turned each page.  "This is amazing."  

Nick sat down on Sara's other side so he, too, could see the photos.

Halfway through the album was a picture Grissom had obviously taken.  Sara and Katie lay stretched out in a hammock, napping in the sunshine.  The hand-written commentary read simply:  _"My sleeping beauties."_

Nick chuckled.  

Sara raised an eyebrow at him, then raised one at Grissom.

Grissom just gave an embarrassed smile and shrug, looking away and offering no explanation.

Nick was awestruck.  In all the time he had known Grissom, and the past four years he had known Sara, Nick never imagined they had this kind of other life.  

This other life documented by memories and photos.  Nick's perception of his two colleagues had changed drastically by the time they reached the last page of the album.

Sara closed the album and held it in her hands a moment.  "Thank you," she said softly to Grissom, brushing a stray tear from her cheek.

Grissom gave her arm a gentle squeeze, smiling down at her.

Sara returned the smile, then looked towards the steel safe built into the wall.  "Earthquake proof, huh?"

"And flood and fire," Grissom answered.

"Good."  Sara stood, approached the safe, and placed the album back inside.  Then she swung the door shut, locked it, and hung the framed painting over it.

Suddenly feeling much better than before, Sara reclaimed her place next to Grissom on the couch.  Picking up her case folder, she asked her colleagues, "Shall we get back to work now?"

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	20. Chapter 20

"Man!" Nick exclaimed, slapping his baseball cap against the chain link fencing of the baseball diamond's shortstop.  "I can't believe we _tied_ with Day Shift!"

Catherine rolled her neck and stretched her sore arms above her head.  "At least they didn't beat us, though.  Be grateful for that, Nicky."

Warrick bent down to collect the various ball bats that had been haphazardly tossed aside.  "Yeah.  Can you imagine the ego trip Eckley would be on if they had won?"

Grissom took a swig from his bottle of water.  His attention was torn between listening to his colleagues and watching some of the other families' children run around the grassy park.

Mark Eckley, Conrad's young son, was showing Katie how to do a wobbly but successful hand-stand.

Grissom chuckled to himself when Lindsey Willows ran over and deliberately toppled Mark down.  

The boy wasn't hurt any; he merely tumbled into the soft grass with merry laughter.

"Only reason Eckley's team even got any points," Sara piped up with a grin.  "Is because they had Katie and Lindsey."

"Are you implying that their team I.Q. doubled when they added those two kids?" Warrick snickered.

Nick gave them all a wide grin.  "Naw.......she's implying that their team I.Q. _tripled_."

"It helped that they had Hodges, too," Brass gave his contribution to the conversation.  "His ego could handle getting cut down a few pegs, but I'll admit——the guy certainly does know how to play baseball."

"Funny you should mention Hodges," Sara told Brass.  "Have you noticed he's actually been _nice_ for the past couple of days?  I'm beginning to wonder if someone knocked him upside the head and gave him amnesia."

Grissom was secretly pleased to hear about the apparent change in David Hodges' attitude.  _Did he take my advice and talk to the Lab's psychologist?_

"Maybe he finally decided to mellow out," Warrick suggested.  

"Well, whatever it is, it sure is a nice change," Sara concluded.

The others all agreed.

"Hey, you guys want to check out that new restaurant on Fifth Street?" Nick asked his fellow teammates.  "We could grab an early dinner there before we all head home."

"Yeah," everyone except Catherine chorused.

"I can't," the blonde declined.  "Gotta take Lindsey shopping.  She had another growth spurt recently and now all her pants are too short for her."

"I'm waiting for Katie to get a growth spurt," Sara responded, eyeing the kids who were now climbing on the nearby monkey bars.  "She's actually considered to be a bit short for her age.  She's a year and a half older than Lindsey, yet they're both the same height."

Warrick gave his input on the matter.  "At least she won't get teased for being too tall.  I don't know about you, but I was always a foot taller than my peers."

"And you're still too tall," Catherine grinned up at him.

"Nah, you're just too short," Warrick retorted with a wink.

Nick snickered, "Can't argue with that."

Catherine gave him a playful glare and a light punch on the arm.  "Go find your restaurant and quit picking on me." 

*           *            *

Much of the night-shift crew were already gathered around a large table when Sara and Katie arrived at the casual-dining restaurant.

"Sara!"  David Phillips jumped up from his seat to pull out two empty chairs directly to his left.  "I, uh.....I saved you and Katie some, uh......some seats."  

With a grin, Katie plopped herself into the seat nearest David.

"Thanks, David."  Sara took the chair between Katie and Brass, flashing David a bright smile.

Immediately flustered, David blushed fiercely and sat back down in his own cushioned seat, nervously adjusting the prescription glasses he wore.

Sara suppressed a chuckle at David's impulsive attentions, very much aware that the young man still seemed to carry a torch for her.  

David was a sweet guy.  Honest in his intentions and quite endearing in his own bashful way——but Sara knew in her heart that she would only ever view him as a good friend and trusted colleague.

Turning her thoughts to her empty stomach, Sara opened a menu.  "So, what's the best thing to order at this place?"

Across the oblong table from her, Grissom was also perusing a menu.  "They have a vegetable stir fry," he suggested, remembering Sara's aversion to eating meat.  "Looks pretty good."

"Yeah?"  Sara scanned the main courses until she found the item in question.  "Wow.  That's a lot of food in one serving."  She tilted the menu towards Katie.  "Do you want to share this with me, or do you want something different?"

Katie's eyes roamed over the various culinary descriptions, not finding anything extraordinarily desirable to her tastes.  "I'll share it with you," she finally decided.

"I think I'll go with the grilled steak," Warrick said to no one in particular, his mouth already watering at the thought of a juicy slab of beef.

"Oooh, steak sounds good," Brass agreed wholeheartedly.  "And fried mushrooms in barbecue sauce."

"If you were a scientist, you'd refrain from eating fungus of any sort," Nick jibed lightly.

"Like you got room to talk, Stokes," Brass snickered.  "What was that junk you were eating the other day?  Bean sprout sandwich?"

Nick laughed.  "They were _alfalfa_ sprouts, and they aren't anything close to being a mushroom."

"I thought only _cows_ ate alfalfa," Sara interjected with a teasing grin.  "You got some twisted little secret you want to share with us, Nick?"

Nick playfully narrowed his eyes at her with a good-natured "Moo."

Grissom smirked at their odd humor and comradely banter.  Shaking his head in amusement, he closed his menu and flagged down a waitress.

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	21. Chapter 21

Sara's spirits were in pure elation with how smoothly the adoption was progressing.  There had been no figurative roadblocks as of yet, and no one had come forward to challenge Sara's right to adopt.

Tragically, though, her bubble of happiness was burst when she answered her home telephone one particular day.

"Hello?"

"How _could_ you!"  The voice on the other end of the phone growled venomously.  "How could you——my own flesh and blood——stab me in the back like that again!"

Sara's pulse quickened as the hateful voice registered in her mind.  Her hand gripped the phone tightly, her knuckles turning white, and asked quite coldly, "What do you want, Mother?"

"You think I don't know what you're doing?" Arlena Sidle snarled at her daughter.  "I heard about your underhanded little plot to adopt that brat again."

Sara's heart leapt into her throat at the mention of the adoption.  "How do you know about that?" she demanded.

Arlena scoffed maliciously.  "I do have reliable sources, dear daughter of mine.  Just tell me one thing:  are you scheming to catch a husband this time, or are you going to raise that child of Satan all by your stubborn self again?"

A deafening rage pounded in Sara's ears.  Her mother had gone too far with that heinous comment in reference to Katie.  

"Don't you _ever_ call her that!" Sara hissed.  "I put up with enough of your garbage the first time around, Mother.  I _will not_ tolerate your hatred any more."

"You and I both know that snot-nosed waif has ruined your life," Arlena rambled on as if she hadn't even heard Sara.  "You could have been _married_ by now——had children of your _own_.  Well, don't expect anyone to rescue you again.  This time I'll _let_ you ruin your life with that illegitimate street-urchin.  Maybe it will finally teach you a lesson or two about what a thankless job it is to raise children, just to have them turn traitorous on you when they grow up!"

Feeling her blood start to boil at her mother's unwarranted persecution, Sara did the only rational, non-murderous thing she could think of.

She hung up the phone.  Forcefully.

Sara literally slammed the receiver into its cradle, causing a large chunk of black plastic to break off and skid across the floor.  She ripped the cord out of its plug to prevent her mother's calling back to further harass her.

Taking a few short steps from the kitchen to the living room, her trembling knees threatened to give way beneath her, and she weakly sank onto the couch.

_I will **not** cry,_ Sara vowed to herself_.  I **refuse** to cry.  Tears are of no use to me._

But the tears came anyway.  And much as Sara tried to deny their arrival, the salty little droplets of her grief soon poured out uncontrollably. 

*           *            *

Katie jerked awake.

Something wasn't right.  

The general atmosphere felt slightly off-kilter for some inexplicable reason.

Katie glanced around her darkened bedroom, trying to pinpoint the source of her unease.

Lying very still, she listened for any sounds that didn't usually belong in the apartment.

That was when she heard the soft weeping coming from the living room. 

Katie flung her blankets aside, got out of bed, and padded barefoot down the hallway.

She could see the outline of Sara's bowed head as she stood at the threshold between the hall and living room.

"Mom?"

Sara sniffled, hurriedly wiping at her cheeks before turning around.  "What are you doing up, kiddo?"

Katie came around the couch, her eyes widening as she saw Sara's tear streaks.  "I heard you crying.  What's wrong?"

Sara immediately put up a brave front for the girl's sake.  "I'm all right, Katie.  It's nothing......just a little stress."

Katie looked wholly unconvinced as she sat next to Sara on the couch.  "You sure?"

"I'll be just fine, sweetie."  Sara forced a smile to come to her face.  "Really."

The young girl's observant eye noticed the crippled telephone on the kitchen counter, but she wisely refrained from mentioning it.  

Sara gave the child a loving hug and a gentle pat on the back.  "Go on back to bed now, huh?  You need to get some sleep."

Katie nodded.  "Yeah."  She reluctantly rose from the couch, giving Sara one more hug.  "I love you, Mom."

"Love you too," Sara whispered back.  The sad moisture returned to her eyes as she watched Katie disappear down the hallway.

Rather than going immediately back to her room, though, Katie took a slight detour.

Removing the cell phone from the top of Sara's dresser, she snuck into the hallway bathroom.

She locked the door and punched in seven digits on the phone's keypad.

"Dad?  It's Katie."

"Hey, shouldn't you still be asleep right now?" Grissom asked suspiciously.

"I was," Katie whispered so that Sara wouldn't discover her.  "But I woke up when I heard Mom crying."

That got Grissom's attention.  "Crying?  Why was she crying?  What happened?" 

"I don't know.  She won't tell me."  Katie paced the bathroom floor with the cell phone pressed to her ear.  "She was crying her eyes out a few minutes ago, but tried to hide it when I asked what was wrong.  She said she's just fine, but she wouldn't be crying like that if she was okay.  What should I do?"

_What could possibly have Sara so upset?  Oh, god.....please don't let it be the adoption!_  

With a brand-new worry on his mind, Grissom answered Katie, "I'm coming over.  Go back to bed so you don't get in trouble, and I'll try to find out what's upsetting Sara."

Katie sighed in relief.  "Thanks, Dad."

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	22. Chapter 22

Sara tugged the lightweight fringed blanket off the back of the couch and draped it across her lap.  It was more for comfort than warmth, considering the red cotton weave had long ago worn thin from repeated washings.

She picked up the remote control and was about to turn the television on when her doorbell rang.

Wrapping the blanket around her shoulders like a shawl, Sara stood, looked through the spy hole, and opened the door.  "Grissom?  What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise, stepping back to allow him entrance into her home.

Grissom ignored her question and asked one of his own.  "Are you okay, Sara?"

Sara's invisible wall of defense quickly came up.  "Of course I'm okay," she responded a bit shortly.  "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've been crying," Grissom bluntly pointed out.

Sara narrowed her eyes.  "Well excuse me.  I hadn't realized that was a crime now."

Grissom peered into her red-rimmed eyes, refusing to back down and determined to know what had gotten her so upset.  "Katie called me.  She was worried about you.  She said you were crying, but you wouldn't tell her why."

Sara's expression softened a little.  "Katie........she's just soft-hearted.......sensitive.  But like I told her, I'll be fine.  What's done is done, and nobody can change it."

Grissom wasn't buying her brave, nonchalant act.  "Sara......is there some hitch in the adoption plans?  Red tape you can't get past?"

"No, it's nothing like that," Sara immediately responded.  "The adoption's going great."

"Then what is it?" Grissom persisted.

Sara stubbornly shook her head.  "I told you it's nothing."

"And I don't believe that," he answered gently, needing to find some way to get her talking.  He laid a hand on her arm, four little words slipping softly from his lips.  "Sara, talk to me."

The suddenly gentle tone of Grissom's voice nearly broke the floodgates again.  Sara defensively tugged the blanket tighter around herself and turned away, unable to look him in the eye any longer.

Katie spied on the two adults from her bedroom doorway.  Quiet as a mouse, she strained her ears to hear what was being said.  

Unable to clearly decipher any words spoken, Katie soon gave up and went back to bed, having a child's loyal faith that her "dad" would fix whatever was wrong.

Grissom took a tentative step towards Sara, resting his hands lightly on her trembling shoulders.  When she offered no resistance, he let his arms slide completely around her from behind.  

"Tell me what happened," he whispered in her ear.

Sara inhaled a shaky breath, almost sure the strong arms holding her were a mere figment of her imagination.  Yet the tanned fingers that lifted briefly to brush a cold tear off her pale, damp cheek were very much real.  

"I got a phone call from my mother," Sara quietly told him, tilting her head to look at him.  

Grissom's jaw tightened.  "I take it she wasn't trying to patch things up between the two of you."

Sara shook her head sadly, moving away from him to re-occupy her previous spot on the couch.

Grissom followed, sitting next to her.  "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked hesitantly, handing her a Kleenex he pulled from a box on the coffee table.  "Sometimes it helps to just tell someone."

Sara dabbed at her eyes with the tissue, gathering a bit of emotional strength before opening her mouth.  In a rather hoarse voice, she recounted a brief summary of what transpired on the phone.

It angered Grissom that anyone could have that much hatred in their heart.  _We put people like that behind bars on an almost daily basis._  "She doesn't think she's going to take Katie away again, does she?"

"No......somehow she got wind of the adoption, and said she'd leave us alone—that she wouldn't interfere with anything this time."  She gave a humorless chuckle, recalling her mother's malevolent words.  "She said she'd 'let me ruin my life'.......and she called Katie some really hateful things."

Though he'd never actually met the woman face-to-face, Grissom felt a very strong resentment toward Arlena Sidle and her controlling ways.  "At least she's not threatening to kidnap Katie again.  Even if she _did_ try, she'd never get away with it a second time."  _She'd have to go through me first, and the entire LVPD S.W.A.T team._

"But why did she have to call me at all?" Sara pondered.  "Why contact me after all these years, when she doesn't even intend to do anything this time?"

"She was just trying to get you under her thumb again.  Sara, I don't know how to tell you this," Grissom said gently, hoping to get his point across without offending her.  "But your mother is a self-centered, manipulative control freak."

Sara stared solemnly at him, making Grissom wonder fleetingly if he should apologize for that remark.

Then she chuckled unexpectedly.  "I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so."

Seeing that Sara wasn't angry with his comment after all, Grissom relaxed a bit.  "You know......for the life of me, I can't understand why she hates Katie so much."

"That's because you don't know the whole story," Sara responded quietly.  

"The whole story?" Grissom echoed in confusion.  "Sara, what are you talking about?"

Sara chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully, debating whether to tell him or not.  She was so tired of keeping her parents' past wrongdoings locked up in her heart. 

She needed to get it off her chest once and for all.

"You already know how I got Katie," Sara began, hoping she wasn't making a big mistake by telling him about her figurative closet of skeletons.

Grissom nodded wordlessly.

"Well, that's merely one small chapter in the book of the Sidle Family History."  At the intrigued expression on Grissom's face, Sara licked her dry lips and boldly asked, "Would you like to know a little more of it?"

Sara Sidle, the most private person he knew besides himself, was offering to share her dark family secrets with him? 

Grissom gave her question some serious thought.  That exhibition of Sara's willingness to trust him with her secrets meant more to Grissom than any other privilege he had ever entertained. 

"Whatever you want me to know," he answered carefully.  "I'm more than willing to listen."

Sara nodded, relieved at being able to share her pains with someone, and yet somewhat fearful of the response Grissom may give to what she had to say.

"My family tree is one big, tangled mess."  She warned him with a small, humorless laugh.  "You think Catherine has it bad, finding out her real father is a murderous casino mogul?  Well, her life is an episode of _The Waltons_ compared with _my_ family."

Grissom couldn't help but chuckle at that odd analogy trivializing Catherine's personal trials.

Sara turned sideways on the couch, facing Grissom with one leg bent underneath.  "You've gotta understand that my parents were hippies when they were younger.  They had the long hair, the love beads, the illegal drugs......and everything else you could imagine.  They met at a Grateful Dead concert in the early 60's........you know, when 'free love' was the big thing, and morals were unheard of?"

Grissom nodded, curious as to where Sara's story was headed.  

"Well, my parents were caught up in that religiously, being firm believers in the _Make Love, Not War _slogans.  They had just barely met, but were already convinced they were madly in love.  It wasn't until they were married that they both realized it wasn't what they really wanted."

"What happened?" Grissom wanted to know.

"My dad cheated on my mom just a few weeks after they eloped.  He had an affair with his brother Thomas' fiancée, which eventually resulted in the birth of Darlene."

"Darlene, your cousin?" Grissom clarified.

"My cousin.......and half-sister," Sara answered.  

Grissom furrowed his eyebrow.  "Well, that's not too bad.......it's probably quite common in some places, actually."

Sara picked up a nearly empty bottle of water from the coffee table and took a sip to refresh her dry throat.  "It gets worse," she admitted.  "When mom heard about dad's infidelity, she went out and had an affair of her own.  But she didn't pick just anyone——she slept with dad's brother......the same man whose fiancée my dad had cheated with.  And as a product of that, my brother Jimmy was born."

Grissom raised an eyebrow.  "Okay, so let me get this straight: you have two cousins who are also your half-siblings.......both by different parents?"

"Yep.  And since Katie was my half-sibling's/cousin's child, that made her my second-cousin, half-niece and later on, my adopted daughter," Sara added with a wry smile.  

"That must have been such a scandal in your town," Grissom surmised.

"Actually, the public never knew the truth," Sara corrected.  "The secrets were kept tight within the family, for that very reason."

Grissom nodded, waiting patiently while Sara continued.

"Anyway, as morally bankrupt as they were, my parents didn't believe in divorcing.  So despite two affairs and two technically illegitimate children, they stayed together and I was born.  Now, my mom always doted on my brother and me when we were growing up.  But as much love as she had for us, she had just as much hatred for Darlene."

"Because she was the product of your dad's infidelity."  

"Yeah," Sara answered him.  "Of course, it didn't even occur to mom that her own infidelity had hurt dad just as deeply.  And like a true hypocrite, she never forgave him.  Even after dad died, mom kept on hating him."

Something still wasn't quite clear to Grissom.  "But what does she have against a sweet, innocent kid?  What did Katie ever do to her?" 

Sara pursed her lips.  "The only thing Katie ever did was dare to be born.  Mom despised Darlene, so of course she would also despise Darlene's child and everyone else who had anything to do with her.  That's why she practically disowned me when I took Katie in."

"And later on, she became an accomplice to your aunt and uncle when they took Katie away," Grissom concluded softly.

"Despite all her flaws, my mother does have a_ few_ good points about her," Sara told Grissom.  "And I've tried so many times to forgive her faults......but I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive her for everything she's done.  And that makes me feel like a really horrible person."

"You're not a horrible person, Sara," Grissom contradicted gently.  "You're just human, that's all."  He reached a hand up to her face, briefly caressing her cheek with his fingers.  "You have more compassion for people than you know what to do with.  I think that makes you a wonderful person."

Sara guiltily met his gaze.  "I'm not that wonderful, Grissom.  I accused you once of not feeling empathy for anyone, and that was dreadfully wrong of me.  You're only human, too.  You feel just as much as the rest of us, and I'm truly sorry for even implying otherwise."

Grissom broke their eye contact, glancing down at his hands.  He remembered all too well the sting of Sara's words_:  'I wish I was like you——I wish I didn't feel anything.'_

He cleared his throat softly with a forgiving smile.  "Don't worry about it—_—_it's in the past.  Doesn't really matter now."

Sara nodded her agreement, smothering a small yawn behind the corner of her blanket.  "Sorry."  

"You need to get some rest," Grissom responded, rising to his feet.  "So I should probably leave."  He gave her a self-conscious smile.  "I guess I just kind of invited myself in, didn't I?"

"You don't have to leave," Sara immediately contradicted.  "I, uh......I was actually getting ready to watch this movie when you came here."  With the big toe of her bare right foot, she poked at a plastic video cassette box sitting on the coffee table.  "You could stay......and watch it with me, if you want."

"All right."  Grissom sat back down as Sara popped the cassette into the VCR.  "It's a good thing we're not at a movie theater," he commented offhand.

"Why's that?"

He smirked.  "Because this way, I won't get threatened by grumpy people for talking during the movie, like the last time."

Sara laughed at that recent memory.  "That was kinda fun, actually.  Although that one big bald guy was pretty scary looking."

She shifted position where she sat, stretching her legs out and propping her bare heels on the edge of the coffee table.

Grissom observed her relaxed air with a smile.  "Do you mind if I put my feet up, too?"

"Go ahead," she allowed.  "As long as your shoes are off."

_I hope my feet don't stink,_ he thought as he slipped his shoes off.  Thankfully, no offensive odor was to be found, and Grissom put his sock-clad feet up next to Sara's.  

He reclined backward into the couch as Sara had done, also subconsciously leaning in her direction.

Sara was unknowingly leaning toward Grissom, too.  She hadn't even realized it until she felt his muscular shoulder pressed against hers.  She ventured a glance at him and smiled, getting a warm smile in return.

*           *            *

When the TV screen faded to black and _"The End"_ appeared in bold white letters, Grissom turned his head to say something to Sara.

His comment remained on the tip of his tongue as he noticed she was sound asleep.  _No wonder she was quiet for so long._

Watching her slumber peacefully, Grissom's fingers reached out and brushed a rebellious lock of hair away from Sara's cheek.  _I hope she doesn't hurt herself sleeping in that position._

He checked his wristwatch, realizing that in a few short hours they would have to be at the Lab to begin the graveyard shift.

He decided to let Sara sleep a little bit longer, however, and gingerly got up off the couch so as not to wake her up.

Grissom carefully pulled the remote control from her grasp and turned off the TV.

Journeying into the kitchen, he spotted a box on the counter near the crippled black telephone.  A lone blueberry bagel occupied the box, looking quite tasty in Grissom's opinion.

He shook his head against the temptation.  _It's her last one——she's probably saving it._

He turned his back on the box, moving over to the coffee pot.  _Coffee should wake her up in a little while,_ he thought.  _And she'll appreciate having it ready and waiting when she gets up._

Grissom emptied the old coffee grounds into the garbage and started a fresh pot.  The strong scent of coffee caused his stomach to protest its lack of nourishment, and his eyes were drawn like a magnet to the bagel box.

That darn bagel was still taunting him.

Grissom resisted for a minute longer, then shamelessly gave in to temptation.

Chewing on a large bite of blueberry happiness, he perused the top of Sara's living room desk for a pen and scrap of paper.

Finding the items in question, he scribbled a note and left it by the coffee pot.

*           *            *

Sara woke with a kink in her neck and the fragrance of fresh coffee in her nostrils.

She drowsily opened her eyes, rubbing away the haze with her knuckles.

"Grissom?" she called out, frowning when she was met with no response.  _He must have gone home.  But why didn't he wake me?_

Focusing gratefully on the coffee aroma, Sara stretched the kink out of her neck and shuffled into the kitchen, where she found a handwritten note beside her coffee pot.

She picked up the note and read its contents.

_Sara—_

_You fell asleep on me.  Not sure yet whether I should feel insulted by that.  (I'm just kidding.)  You looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you.  Coffee's ready for you.  I would have stuck around longer, but I have errands to run before work.  Call my cell if you need anything; otherwise, I guess I'll see you tonight at the lab._

_—Grissom_

_P.S.  I ate your last bagel.  Sorry._

Sara couldn't help but smile to herself as she poured a cup of coffee.  

Grissom apparently felt comfortable enough in her home to brew her coffee, steal her food and leave a somewhat teasing note.  It was almost like the good old days back in San Francisco.

Almost.

Sara stepped back into the living room, grabbing a pen and small writing tablet.  She jotted down a few grocery items to pick up on her next trip to the store, beginning the list with 'bagels'.

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	23. Chapter 23

"Hey."

Grissom lifted his head up from his microscope.  "Hi, Sara."

"Do you ever go to the fair?" Sara asked plainly.

Grissom furrowed an eyebrow in curiosity.  "Is this about your robbery case?"

"It's not about any case."  Sara leaned a hip against the table.  "One of my neighbors gave me three tickets to a county fair out in Spring Valley this Saturday, and Katie and I thought maybe you'd like to come with?"

With a smile lighting up his face, Grissom asked, "You mean a _real_ fair, with roller coasters and Ferris wheels?"

"And cotton candy and tractor-pulls and elephant ears......" Sara confirmed with a mischievous grin.  "All kinds of fun stuff."

Grissom's smile widened.  "I ride roller coasters occasionally, but I haven't actually been to a real fair since I was a kid," he confessed shyly.  "I'd love to go."

"Good."  Sara graced him with a pretty smile.  "We're going to leave around seven-thirty in the morning.......should get there right about when they open up.  I figured we'd stay until early afternoon, if that's agreeable with you."

"That sounds like a good plan," he answered warmly.

"Great."  Sara gently pushed herself away from the counter edge and exited the room with a smile on her face.

*           *            *

"It looks funny," Katie noted, peering at a fingerprint magnified on a computer screen.

"Well, it's only a partial," Jacqui Franco explained patiently.  "And a distorted one, at that.  But with a little technology——and a lot of skill——we can turn it into something that gives us results."

Katie watched, fascinated, as Jacqui created a useable fingerprint out of the irregular partial.

"Now, we just put it through AFIS, and hopefully it will kick out a name."  Jacqui typed a series of commands on her keyboard, setting up the fingerprint image to run through the Automatic Fingerprint Identification System.

Since she had no other work to do at the moment, she sat back and waited for a match.  

After a long moment of silence, she ventured, "So your mom tells me you're going to a fair on Saturday."

"Yeah, I can hardly wait," Katie answered enthusiastically.  "I love fairs!  They're so much fun!"

"Yeah, they are," Jacqui responded with a smile.  "What's your favorite part of the fair?  Rides, food, or souvenirs?"

Katie admitted shyly, "I like the greasy food.  Onion rings and curly fries, and things like that."

"I love onion rings from the fair," Jacqui agreed wholeheartedly.  "They've always got that special flavor.  Fast-food restaurants just don't make them as good."

The computer beeped at them just then, bringing their attention to the screen. 

"That was quick," Jacqui commented, straightening in her seat.  "Looks like we got a hit."  She reached for the phone, dialing the pager number of the CSI who was working that case.

*           *            *

Conrad Eckley strolled through the CSI corridor on route to the parking lot.  After his regular shift, plus some stressful overtime work, he was looking forward to a relaxing evening with his family.

Rounding a corner and passing the Print Lab, he caught Katie's eye through the Plexiglas walls.

Katie graced him with a friendly grin——the only genuine smile Conrad had received all day.

He returned the smile and continued on his way, deeply inhaling the fresh evening air that greeted him outside.

His headache was already beginning to lessen when he reached his car.  He got inside and started the engine, absently thinking of picking up a bouquet of flowers for his wife.  

*           *            *

Warrick and Catherine were coming back to the lab after processing their crime scene.  Their Tahoe passed Eckley's Mercedes as he was heading out of the parking lot.

"That was weird," Catherine remarked, turning her head to look out her window.

"What?"

"Eckley," she replied in wonder.  "I think he was actually _smiling_."

"Smiling?"  Warrick echoed in amusement, parking the SUV in a spot near the building's main doors.  "You sure it was Eckley?"

"Big nose, beady eyes.......ego big enough to choke an elephant," Catherine smirked.  "Yeah, pretty sure it was him."  She unfastened her shoulder restraint and reached into the backseat for her field kit.

Warrick mirrored her movements, grabbing his own case.  

They entered the building and soon fell into step with Katie, who was leaving the Fingerprint Lab.

"Hey, kiddo."

"Hi," Katie replied with a ready smile.  "Guess what?"

"Grissom fired Hodges and hired you?" Warrick teased with a wink for Katie.

Katie giggled, rolling her eyes.  "No.......I'm going to a fair on Saturday!"

"Oooh, that sounds like fun," Catherine answered.

"And my dad's coming with us," Katie continued happily.  

"Gil's going too?" Catherine repeated in surprise.  "Wow."

Warrick chuckled as they continued down the hall.  "I bet the first thing he rides is a roller coaster."

*           *            *

Grissom was meditating on a T-shirt on a layout table when his cell phone rang.

"Grissom," he answered distractedly without bothering to look at the caller ID screen.  

At hearing the voice on the other end, he forced a civil tone, quelling his first urge to cringe.  "Sheriff Atwater.....how nice to hear from you."

"I'm afraid this isn't a social call, Grissom," Rory Atwater replied in a mild tone, getting straight down to business.  "You're being summoned to testify at the Jackson trial Saturday morning at eight o'clock.  I'm telling you this right now out of courtesy; the official summons should be on your desk within an hour."  

_Eight o'clock, Saturday morning.  They couldn't possibly have chosen a different day for their trial, could they?  _Grissom was silent for a moment._  Well, I've gotten out of court appearances before——this time should be no different._

"I have plans to go out-of-town Saturday," he argued, not willing to give up his trip to Spring Valley with Sara and Katie.  "That's during Day Shift's work hours, anyway.  Have one of Eckley's guys do it."

Atwater gave a humorless laugh.  "Believe me, Gil......I would if I could.  But it's out of my hands.  Either you show up and testify........or Carvallo will suspend you without pay."

Grissom was taken aback.  Would Carvallo really suspend him over _that_?

Grissom wasn't anxious to find out.  He gave a frustrated sigh.  "Fine," he curtly told Atwater, not bothering to disguise his irritation.  "I'll be there."

"If it makes any difference," the sheriff added before hanging up.  "I am sorry about this."

"You and me, both," Grissom muttered to himself as he terminated the wireless connection.  

Attempting to ignore the strong disappointment he felt, he turned his mind back to the task at hand.

Five minutes later, Grissom was still sitting there staring blankly at the evidence he was supposed to be processing.

He let out a deep sigh, rubbing a hand over his eyes.  _Now I can't even concentrate on my work._

Unhappily, he gathered up his case evidence and left the layout room to find Sara.

*           *            *

"Can't you hand it off to someone else?" Sara asked him, keeping her irritation at bay.

Visibly disheartened, Grissom shook his head in the negative.  "This is one of those times when my attendance is _required_."

"Well, they sure are good at choosing times and dates, aren't they?" Sara remarked sarcastically.  

"It would be a shame to let my ticket go to waste," Grissom said with a defeated sigh.  "I'm sure you could find someone to take my place."  

Sara looked away from his gaze, responding softly, "Katie wanted _you_."  

Grissom fidgeted with the eyeglasses he held in his hands.  "I'm sorry," he offered quietly.

"Yeah, me too."  After an awkward silence, Sara gave a half-hearted smile and a shrug.  "Maybe Nick would like to go.  He and Katie get along really well."

Grissom said nothing, gripped with a pang of envy, then guilt.  _I'm getting tired of having to say no to her.  I declined her dinner invite because of my hearing problem, and now I have to cancel an entire day with her that I was really looking forward to._

Struck with an overwhelming urge to escape the tense atmosphere, Sara logged off the computer and closed up her case folder.  With a mumbled "Well.......guess I'll see you around, then," she stood and quickly disappeared from the computer lab.

Grissom sadly watched her go, then pushed her vacated chair into place under the desk and started to leave.

In a burst of anger, he turned back and kicked the empty chair.  "Sometimes I really hate this job."

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	24. Chapter 24

"After the third roller coaster ride, he was turning green," Sara laughingly told Catherine and Warrick.  "I thought for sure he was going to die before the day was over."

"Like that mini-rodeo you made me sit through was any better," Nick retorted good-naturedly.  "I haven't seen bull-riding look _that_ ridiculous since I left Dallas."

Sara playfully patted his cheek with a smirk.  "Ah, you know you enjoyed it, Cowboy.  Probably made you feel right at home."

Warrick and Catherine snickered.

Katie was sifting through a stack of pictures from their day at the fair, looking for one specific photo.  Finding it, she held it up for all to see.  "This is my favorite ride—the Falling Star.  That's me and mom right there," she said proudly, pointing out two faces.  "Uncle Nick stayed on the ground to take the picture."

Nick grinned unashamedly.  "I figured that was my safest bet after that Roller Coaster of Death."

*           *            *

Half-hidden in his office entrance, with hands in his pockets and a frown on his face, Grissom silently spied on his CSIs.

Grissom was happy to see Sara laughing and joking with other people.  Yet he felt a squeezing in his heart at the fact that Sara's smiles were aimed at another man——although he was almost certain there was nothing but sibling-like friendship between Sara and Nick.

From another doorway a few yards back, Jim Brass observed Grissom.  

Judging by the expression on the entomologist's face, he wasn't exactly thrilled with the sudden apparent closeness of Nick and Sara.

After a little while, Brass pushed himself off his doorway and joined his colleague.  "It's jealousy."

Grissom turned his head to look at the police Captain.  "Excuse me?"

"That numb feeling halfway between your heart and the pit of your stomach."  Brass gave Grissom a knowing look.  "It's called jealousy, my friend."

"That's ridiculous, Jim."  Grissom sullenly faced the break room once more, discreetly scrutinizing Nick and Sara through the glass walls.  "What could I possibly have to be jealous about?"

Brass shrugged his shoulders.  "Oh, I dunno.  Maybe the fact that Nicky there seems to be encroaching upon your territory?"

"My _territory?_  Oh, please." Grissom snorted wryly.  "You should know better than that, Jim.  Sara Sidle is _nobody's_ 'territory'."

"But you _do_ have feelings for her," Brass prodded.

Denial was on the tip of his tongue, yet somehow the truth was uttered instead.  Grissom took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.  Hanging his head in defeat, he confessed, "Yeah.......I _do_ have feelings for her, Jim.  Very unprofessional feelings......."

"Then talk to her, Gil," Brass wisely advised.  "Women like Sara come along only once in a lifetime.  Tell her how you feel before it's too late."

_'Too late'?_  

Those two significant words echoed in his ears.  Grissom's head snapped up, his eyes half-squinting at Brass._  Sara told me I could be too late by the time I 'figured it out'......  It's not too late **now**, is it?_

"What are you waiting for?  Pigs to come flying by?" Jim gave him a gentle push towards the break room.  "She's right over there.  _Go._"

With a mock scowl at Jim, Grissom set off for the break room.

Sara, meanwhile, had gathered up the array of fair photos and was about to follow the others out the door.  Her fifteen-minute break was up, and she needed to return the photos to her locker for safekeeping.

Grissom reached her just as she was leaving the break room.  "Can I, uh, talk to you for a minute?"

"I was just taking a little break," she immediately explained.  "If you're looking for my notes on the Martinez case, they're on your desk."

"This isn't about work, Sara."  Unable to think of a better way to put it, Grissom added, "It's a personal matter."

"What's the problem?" Sara asked neutrally, her outward calmness belying her inner timidity.

Grissom looked intently into Sara's guarded brown eyes.  His voice lowered to a more intimate tone as his tongue formed the words, "I think I know what to do about 'this'." 

Sara stared at him for a long moment.  _Has he **really** figured it out now, or is he just messing with my head like all the other times before?  _

Her hopeful heart decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.  "And?" she quietly prompted with a curious tilt of her head.

Willing his heart to stop pounding in his ears, Grissom offered Sara that very same weighty question she had asked him on that pivotal eve of the Crime Lab's explosion.  "Would you like to have dinner with me?"

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	25. Chapter 25

"This is really nice," Sara commented with a smile.  "Having dinner on the balcony........and watching the sun go down."

Grissom smiled back, taking a sip of his champagne.  "I'm glad you like it.  This is one of the few restaurants in Las Vegas that isn't overpowered by neon lights."

Sara's eyes took in the rich kaleidoscope of sunset colors dancing across the reddish mountain backdrop.  "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

But Grissom wasn't looking at the colors.  His focus centered on Sara, whose profile was silhouetted by the descending sun.  "Very," he agreed softly.

Something in his voice caused Sara to turn her head back toward Grissom.  Meeting his eyes across the small table, she couldn't help the slight blush that colored her cheeks.

Shyly dropping her gaze, she speared a dainty cut of vegetable with her fork and brought it to her lips.

Grissom mirrored the action with his own serving, washing it down with another sip of champagne.

Sara dabbed at her lips with her napkin before speaking again.  "I'm surprised nobody has interrupted our dinner yet with ringing cell phones or buzzing pagers."

"Or severed fingers in a glass of ice," Grissom added, referring to that particular time Catherine had deposited a drinking glass containing human evidence next to Sara's dinner plate in a café.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Sara answered with a slight wrinkle of her nose.

"Sorry."  Grissom chuckled into his napkin as he wiped his bottom lip.  Turning serious again, he confessed, "I turned my cell phone off.  Left my pager at work."

"On purpose?"

He nodded, then gave a brief reason.  "On one date a few years ago, my cell phone rang halfway through dinner.  The call was short, but when I hung up, my date was gone.  She left without a single word."

Sensing the hurt that Grissom had felt from that experience, Sara reached across the table and gently squeezed his arm.  "I would never do that, you know."

"I'm still not taking any chances on it," he answered softly, his own hand closing around Sara's before she could pull it back away.

She watched curiously as he turned her hand palm-up and ran a finger lightly over the fading scar.

Grissom didn't speak a word about the circumstances that had awarded her that scar, or the conversation that had followed at the end of the day.

He surprised them both a little when he impulsively slipped his fingers down between hers, keeping their hands palm-to-palm.

Sara's eyes sparkled at him beneath thick lashes as her fingers instinctively curled over his knuckles.

Over the speakers hidden amongst various potted plants on the balcony, a familiar song began to play.

Grissom recognized the tune to be The Jeff Healey Band's _Angel Eyes_——admittedly, one of his favorite songs from the 1980's.

With a tiny squeeze on Sara's fingers, he asked hopefully, "Would you dance with me?"

"I'd love to," she responded with a smile.

Returning the smile, Grissom led her to a roomy corner of the quiet balcony and took her gently into his arms.

_Girl, you're looking fine tonight_

_And every guy has got you in his sights_

_What you're doing with a clown like me_

_Is surely one of life's little mysteries_

_So tonight I'll ask the stars above_

_How did I ever win your love_

_What did I do_

_What did I say_

_To turn your angel eyes my way_

_Well, I'm the guy who never learned to dance_

_Never even got one second glance_

_Across a crowded room was close enough_

_I could look but never touch_

_So tonight I'll ask the stars above_

_How did I ever win your love_

_What did I do_

_What did I say_

_To turn your angel eyes my way_

"Just the other day, I was trying to teach Katie how to slow-dance to this song," Sara told him for no particular reason.

Grissom smiled at the mention of his favorite pre-teen.

Sara immediately noticed the upward quirk of his lips.  "What?"

Grissom shook his head.  "Oh, nothing, really..........I was just thinking about how Katie calls us 'mom' and 'dad'........"

"Yeah?  What about it?" she prodded curiously when he didn't finish the sentence.

He gave her a shy grin.  "Well........it's kinda funny when you think about it.  You're the mother of my kid, and I've never even kissed you."

"We could fix that," Sara answered softly, staring back at him.

"Yeah, we could," he agreed in a low voice, his blue eyes locked onto hers.

"So what's stopping you?"

Grissom briefly glanced down at Sara's mouth, hesitantly admitting, "I'm half afraid that if I kiss you, I'll suddenly wake up and realize this wonderful night was just a dream."

Sara smiled, letting her own gaze wander down to his lips.  "Trust me, Grissom," she whispered.  "You're not dreaming."

"God, I better not be."  His arm tightened around her waist as he tilted his head towards hers.

Sara met him halfway, parting her lips under his gentle pressure.

The raw emotion of the kiss engulfed them in a slow-burning fire; never before had either of them experienced such a connection.

"What's your pulse at now?" Sara whispered against his lips, threading her fingers through his hair.

"I think you knocked it off the charts," Grissom whispered back, resting his forehead against hers.

She gave a quiet laugh as they resumed their slow dance, holding each other closely as they swayed in time with the melody.

_Don't anyone wake me_

_If it's just a dream_

_'Cause she's the best thing_

_That's ever happened to me_

_All you fellows, you can look all you like_

_But this girl, you see, she's leavin' here_

_With me tonight _

_There's just one more thing I have to know_

_If this is love why does it scare me so_

_It must be something only you can see_

_'Cause I feel it when you look at me _

_So tonight I'll ask the stars above_

_How did I ever win your love_

_What did I do_

_What did I say_

_To turn your angel eyes my way_

*           *            *

When he brought her home after dinner, Grissom had intended to escort Sara to her door to make sure she got inside safely.

But Sara was content to stand in his arms by the car for a little while first, and Grissom definitely wasn't going to complain about that.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" he asked softly, threading his fingers through Sara's hair.

"Yeah, we ran into each other——literally," she recalled with a laugh.

"You certainly took my breath away."

"Knocked the wind right out of your lungs, huh?"

"That was part of the reason," Grissom admitted shyly.

A bit boldly, Sara encouraged, "And what was the rest of the reason?"

Grissom pressed a sweet kiss to her lips.  "Beauty, remember?"

Sara wound her arms loosely around his neck and gazed into his eyes.  "There are a lot of women on this earth who are much prettier than me," she said seriously.

"I can't think of any," Grissom answered honestly, one hand rising to cup her cheek.  "Besides......you're beautiful on the inside, too."

His words caused Sara to blush shyly for the second time that night——a radiant effect that Grissom quite enjoyed observing.

He leaned in for another kiss, but a sudden movement caught his attention from the corner of his eye.

"What's the matter?" Sara questioned when he pulled back and looked above her head.

"I think we're being spied on," he responded with amusement.

Sara followed his line of vision up the side of the apartment building, letting out a self-conscious chuckle as Katie and Natalie dashed away from the illuminated window they had been peeking out of.

Katie would probably tease Sara a little when she got inside, but Natalie Sanders——Greg's younger sister and Katie's older companion for the evening——felt somewhat intimidated by Sara and likely wouldn't have the nerve to even mention it.

"I should go," Sara said reluctantly, sliding her arms down from Grissom's neck.  

In a valiant gesture, Grissom offered his arm.  "I'll walk you to your door."

* * *

_To Be Continued............._


	26. Chapter 26

A week had passed since their first date and first kiss.

As he prepared for yet another night of solving crimes, Grissom marveled at the new-found level of ease in his relationship with Sara.

Long looks, secret touches, frequent invasions of each other's personal space——little things that had always been factors in their longstanding friendship.

_But there's something new this time,_ Grissom reminded himself with a grin.  _I can steal a kiss without potentially meeting the wrong side of Sara's fist._

In fact, he had done that very thing just yesterday in his office——with the door closed and the window shades pulled, of course. 

That spontaneous kiss had surprised Grissom just as much as it surprised Sara, but it was graciously received and Sara had warmly responded to it before getting distracted by her noisy pager.

Forcing the obvious reminiscent smile off his face, Grissom gathered up the night's assignment slips and headed for the break room.  

After pouring himself a fresh cup of coffee, he claimed the only empty seat in the room.  He settled into the plastic chair, stretching his legs out a bit and deliberately resting the toe of his shoe against Sara's foot under the table.

His eyes automatically gravitated to Sara's smiling face, and he returned the gesture before briefly sweeping his gaze across the other faces at the table.

Warrick and Nick were busy discussing ways to cheat at the latest popular video game that was out on the market.

Catherine chewed on a perfectly manicured thumbnail, deeply in thought about something.

Katie——a young romantic at heart——kept sneaking covert glances between Sara and Grissom.  The girl was positively ecstatic that her 'parents' had finally gone on a date with each other.  Her tongue itched to tell someone......_anyone_......about that fantastic news.

And she would have told everyone she knew, had Grissom and Sara not sworn her to secrecy first. 

As it was, the only other people who knew about the date were Greg and Brass.

Brass knew, because he had been the one to prod Grissom into taking that big step.  

Greg was aware of it only because his sister Natalie had blabbed to him at the very first opportunity.

Jim Brass wouldn't spill the figurative beans, and a stern warning from Sara ensured that Greg Sanders would also keep quiet.

Grissom softly cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.  "Nick and Catherine——murder at the Four Sands Motel.  Lots of blood spatter."  

"Goodie," Catherine commented dryly.

"Sara, Warrick.......you're with me."  Grissom gave them the basic information of the case.  "Young woman found in her home, stabbed to death."

"I'll drive," Sara replied.

*           *           *

"Stabbed in the back," Sara commented sadly, setting her evidence case on the floor.

"Literally," David Phillips responded mildly, glancing at the knife protruding from the victim's back.  "Looks pretty deep.  It penetrated her spinal cord......probably her lungs, too."

"Ouch," Warrick winced.  "It looks like an ordinary kitchen knife.  I'll check the butcher block——see if one's missing."

"I'll start in here," Sara offered, opening her case and grabbing the appropriate tools.

Grissom followed a set of soiled footprints leading out of the living room.  Over his shoulder, he tossed casually, "If you need me, I'll be in the bedroom."

Sara raised an amused eyebrow at his retreating back.  

*           *           *

"The vic must have been a belly-dancer," Warrick said with a slight scoff as he later joined Sara and Grissom in the room designated as a den.  "This shelf is nothing but belly-dancing training tapes."

Sara took note of the tone in his voice.  "You don't like belly-dancers?"

"Sure I do," Warrick quickly amended.  "I just don't understand how they can _move_ like they do.  They're so flexible that it's almost creepy."

"Hey, belly-dancing is fun," Sara defended almost without thinking.  "Don't knock it 'till you try it."

Grissom looked up from his task of photographing a piece of evidence.  He turned his head and fixed Sara with a curious stare.  "Are you saying that _you_ belly-dance, too?"

Sara gave him a wide, somewhat flirtatious smile.  "What——you think Catherine's the only one around here who knows exotic dancing?"

Unable to help himself, Grissom gave her a sly glance up and down.  "What other secrets do you hide, Ms. Sidle?"

Sara smirked.  "Wouldn't you like to know?"  

"All right——stop flirting, you two, and get back to work," Warrick ordered with mock authority.  

Having been caught in Grissom's blue-eyed gaze, Sara had nearly forgotten Warrick was in the room too.  Feeling a slight blush spreading across her cheeks, she turned her back on them both. 

Forcing aside the pleasantly distracting thoughts of Sara's lithe body performing belly-dancing moves, Grissom raised his camera again and continued photographing evidence.

*           *           *

"Hi."

Vincent Dorsey glanced up, twitched an eyebrow at the child, and continued with his task.

Katie tried again.  "What are you doing?"

Vincent gave her a pointed look.  "I'm working, kid.  Now buzz off."

But Katie was not to be deterred.  "What are you working on?"

With a low growl of frustration, Vincent slapped his palms down on the table he sat behind.  "Isn't there somebody else you could bother?" he snapped impatiently.

Katie frowned.  Even Hodges was nicer than this guy.

"Shoo."  Vincent waved her away as he would with an unwanted pest.

Katie narrowed her eyes.  "Fine."  Miffed at his abrupt dismissal, she stalked back out of the Trace Lab and plowed right into Nick.

"Sorry," they apologized together, both taking an automatic step back.

Nick peered down at Katie's face.  "Hey, what's with the frown?"

Katie hooked one thumb in the direction of the room she had left.  "Is he always that rude?"

Nick glanced through the glass walls at the lab tech.  "I can't recall any occasion when he _wasn't_ rude."

"Hmmph."  Katie put her hands on her hips, tilting her head to look up at Nick.  "So.......what are you doing?"

Nick smiled down at her.  "You're bored, aren't you?"

"A little bit," she admitted reluctantly.  "Everybody's too busy to talk to me."

"You didn't bring any books to read today?"

"Nope."  Katie shrugged.

"Do you like to draw?"

Katie's expression brightened.  "Sure!"

Nick chuckled.  "Okay.  Why don't we see if we can scrounge up some decent paper and pencils?"

Katie smiled.  "All right."

Nick left her in the break room, where she sat quietly doodling pictures into an unlined notebook.

*           *           *

"Hey, that's pretty good," Catherine offered as she came into the room and stood over Katie's shoulder.

"Thanks.  It's a picture of a spider plant my dad gave me.  It's almost as tall as the orchid he gave my mom."

"Really?"  Catherine's eyes widened in interest.  Just a little while ago, Warrick had shared with her some gossip about Grissom and Sara's flirtatious bantering at their crime scene.

Seeing Katie's statement as an opportunity to milk some information out of the girl, Catherine quickly poured herself a cup of coffee and took an uninvited seat at the table.  "I bet your mom and dad have gotten a bit closer lately, haven't they?"

The pencil in Katie's hand stilled as she immediately sensed a trap.  "What do you mean?" she feigned ignorance, moving her pencil to add detail to the leaves of her drawing.

"It just seems they're much more......_comfortable_......around each other.  More relaxed."  Catherine studied the child's face for any signs of deception.  "Maybe even happier......wouldn't you say so?" 

"I dunno......"  Wisely keeping her eyes on her drawing, Katie shrugged noncommittally.  "I don't think they act any different than they usually do."

"You don't think they're a bit friendlier toward each other?" Catherine prodded.  

Katie gave what she hoped was a convincing blank look.

Realizing her subtle method of interrogation was quickly going nowhere, Catherine went in for the kill.  "_I_ think they look pretty friendly, lately.  In fact.......if I didn't know better, I might even think they were _dating_."

Katie clamped her jaw shut in an effort not to laugh.  _As mom would say, you hit the nail right on the head._

Smiling as innocently as she could, Katie answered, "If they were, I'd be the first one to know about it."

Catherine frowned.  _Either she's being evasive, or there's really nothing to tell._

"All right.....if you say so."  Needing to return to her case work, Catherine stood, rinsed her cup in the sink, and exited the break room.  

Katie grinned to herself behind Catherine's back.  She honestly hadn't expected the woman to give up her questioning that quickly or easily.

_Mom and dad said they'd tell people when the time is right.  But until then, I can't tell anybody.  No matter how much I want to._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_To Be Continued............._


	27. Chapter 27

"Ow!"

Catherine winced in sympathy.  "Sorry, hon."  She gently disentangled her daughter's hair from one of her many jeweled rings.  

"This stuff's not coming out, is it?" Lindsey tearfully asked.

"It'll come out," Catherine soothed, though not entirely sure of it herself.  "We'll just let the shampoo soak in for another five minutes, and then we'll rinse it again and see."

Lindsey nodded with a childish pout, fully embarrassed about the messy predicament she had gotten herself into.

Catherine glanced at the clock on the wall and groaned internally.  "I need to make a phone call."  She rinsed and dried her hands, and stepped from the bathroom to her bedroom.

She dialed Grissom's cell number first, but his line was already occupied.  Sara's number was the next one to be punched into the keypad, and she answered on the second ring.

"Sara?  It's Catherine."

"What's up?" Sara inquired.

"Could you let Grissom know I'll be a bit late to work today?  I've got to take care of a little....._situation_....at home."

"Situation?" Sara repeated with a hint of concern for her colleague.  "Are you and Lindsey alright?"

"Oh, everything's fine," Catherine assured her.  "Except for the fact that Lindsey has Jell-O in her hair and it isn't coming out."

"Were you two having a food fight?" Sara sounded amused.

Catherine sighed.  "I wish it _had_ been something like that.  Poor Lindsey's embarrassed to death about it.  A food fight would have been _much_ easier to explain."

Sara grinned, thankful that Catherine couldn't see it through the phone.  "What did she do?"

"Well, a couple of her friends did a little experimenting the other day.  They decided it would be 'cool' to dye their hair, but their parents forbade using real dye, so they used Kool-Aid powder instead."

"Kool-Aid?" Sara echoed incredulously.  "To color their hair with?"

"'Red Cherry Razz-Burst' flavor, as Lindsey tells me," Catherine confirmed.  "Her friends Jenna and Becky now have reddish-orange 'highlights' streaked into their blonde hair——which actually doesn't look all that bad.  But then my adventurous daughter decided _she_ wanted to color _her_ hair, too."

"So, Lindsey colored her hair with Kool-Aid too?" Sara ventured, trying to get to the point of Catherine's lengthy explanation.

Catherine laughed humorlessly.  "Oh, no.  Here's the fun part of it all:  apparently, Lindsey couldn't find the Kool-Aid, so she used red Jell-O powder instead.  It seems she forgot that Jell-O turns to 'gel', so when she dumped it into her hair under a hot shower........"

".....it made a nasty mess," Sara finished with a shake of her head.  "Poor kid."

"It didn't congeal entirely, but it didn't rinse out nicely either.  I left her soaking it in shampoo suds for a few minutes longer.  Hopefully it'll loosen it up enough to get rid of most of the gunk."

"I do not envy you," Sara stated, holding back a chuckle.  "All right.....I'll give Grissom your message when I get to the Lab."

Catherine sighed in mild relief.  "Thanks, Sara.  I owe you one."

"Yes, you do."  Sara closed her cell phone and eyed Katie thoughtfully, wondering momentarily if she should hide away any and all packages of Jell-O they may have in the apartment.

Katie noticed the odd expression being directed at her.  "What?"

"You're not thinking about dying your hair, are you?" Sara asked suspiciously.

Katie furrowed an eyebrow in surprise.  "No........why?"

Sara gave her a brief skeptical look, then shook her head.  "No reason."

*           *            *

Upon arriving at the Crime Lab, Sara paused at the front desk to sign in, then she and Katie strolled through the glass-walled corridors.

Katie followed her into Grissom's office, staying long enough to say hi to her 'dad' and to peek in at the orange-kneed tarantula that resided in the corner terrarium.

"Maybe I'll let you hold him sometime," Grissom told her with a smile.

"Really?"  A smile lit Katie's face.  "Awesome."  She wiggled one finger at Murray through the glass, and the spider shied away, choosing to hide behind a large twig.

"Just don't tease him," Sara gently reminded her.

Katie pulled her hand away.  "Sorry."  She continued to watch the tarantula for a few moments longer, then meandered out of the room to find something else to occupy her time.

"Honestly, I don't see what's so wonderful about tarantulas," Sara commented, the smile on her face taking away any malice her statement might have contained.  "They're just overgrown spiders."

"Maybe you've never been properly introduced to one," Grissom replied evenly, reaching into the tank and allowing his tarantula to creep onto his palm.

Sara took a step back as Grissom lifted the spider out of the glass tank.  "What are you doing?" she asked a bit nervously.

Grissom came toward her.  "Introducing you to my pet," he answered simply.

"Nuh-_uh._"  Sara shook her head and took another step back.  "No way."

Grissom's eyes twinkled with mischief as he advanced nearer.  "Come on......he wants to meet you."

"No."  Sara stared wide-eyed at him, all humor vanishing as the tarantula was brought much closer than she preferred.  "I'm warning you."  

"But he _likes_ you," Grissom wheedled playfully, giving a boyish grin at her reaction.

Sara kept retreating until her back came into contact with one of Grissom's shelving units.  Seeing no possible escape, she grabbed for the nearest object on the shelf.  "One more step, and Miss Piggy gets it."

Grissom halted, eyes fixed on the jar of pickled piglet held not-so-securely in Sara's hands.  "You wouldn't," he called her bluff with narrowed eyes.

"Oh yeah?" Sara challenged.  "If you don't get that hairy creature away from me, I _will_."

Grissom frowned at her determined and unyielding stance, then finally moved back to put the tarantula back in its home.  "She's such spoil-sport," he remarked to Murray.

*           *            *

Katie's sandal-clad feet took her down a quiet and familiar hallway, and she greeted Captain Brass with a wave when she entered his office.

Brass returned the greeting as he kept up with his phone conversation.

Knowing not to distract him while he was working, Katie hopped over to the chair she had unofficially adopted as 'hers'.

Spotting a brightly gift-wrapped object already occupying her seat, she stopped abruptly.  She picked it up curiously, turning it over to look for a gift tag or some other indication of who it was intended for.

Katie turned to Brass——who was looking quite bored with his lengthy phone call at that point——and raised a questioning eyebrow, silently asking, _'For me?'_

Brass simply winked at her.

With a wide grin, Katie tore into the pretty paper covering her gift.  "Ah, cool!" she exclaimed in a whisper as two young-adult adventure/mystery books were revealed.

The very moment Brass hung up his phone, two small arms wrapped around his neck and Katie planted a kiss on his cheek.  "Thanks, Uncle Jim!"

He chuckled to himself and patted her arm.  "You're welcome, kiddo."  As he watched Katie plop down in her chair and open one of the books, Jim couldn't help but think back to how his own daughter had been at that age.

As different as night and day were Ellie Brass and Katie Sidle.  

Whereas Sara's sweet Katie was disciplined and affectionate, Ellie had been unruly and resentful—and Jim blamed no one but himself for that, having deeply regretted the years he had virtually neglected his family as he pursued his career in law enforcement.

Sensing that she was being watched, Katie glanced up from her book.  She gave the Police captain a smile, commenting, "You picked a good book."

Jim smiled back, pleased that his gift was appreciated.  _I never got that much acknowledgement from Ellie, no matter what I did,_ he thought sadly as the smile slowly faded from his face.  _I'd give anything to have a second chance with her.......to prove that I** can **be a good father.  But until miracles happen, I'll just have to be the best 'Uncle Jim' that I can be._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_To Be Continued............._


	28. Chapter 28

"I never imagined window-shopping could actually be _fun_," Grissom confessed sincerely as he walked arm-in-arm with Sara through a local mall before they had to go to work one day.

"Yeah.......I'm kinda surprised, too," Sara answered.  "I'm usually not one for shopping, but I guess it's different when you're just looking and not buying.  And it probably helps that we're practically the only ones in the entire mall today."

Grissom gave her a shy smile.  "I'm also in good company.  That makes the experience all the more enjoyable."

Sara couldn't help but smile back before giving attention to her ice cream cone, the remaining contents of which were melting faster than she had been eating.

Katie had devoured her own double-scoop waffle cone mere minutes after receiving it, leaving her quite trouble-free in regards to melting treats.

Sara took a large bite of the soft ice cream, watching in amusement as Grissom did the same with his own cone.

"Aw, crap," Grissom muttered.

"What's the matter?"

"My ice cream cone sprung a leak," he answered with a dry chuckle.  "And of course there are no napkins anywhere."

Sara snickered as Grissom tried unsuccessfully to lick the messy ice cream trail off his wrist.  

A few sugary drops landed on the toe of his shoe and spilled onto the floor.

"Slurp it out through the hole in the bottom," Katie directed in reference to the cone.  "Then at least the rest of it won't drip on you."

With a somewhat helpless grunt, Grissom did as he was advised.  He awkwardly ate the remainder of his waffle cone from the bottom, up.

"You're messier than a five-year-old," Sara commented affectionately, wiping a sticky drop off Grissom's chin.

"Ugh......this is hopeless.  I need to find a sink to clean this off."  

"I think I saw a bathroom back that way," Sara replied, pointing her thumb behind them.

"Oh, good."  Grissom turned toward the corridor Sara had indicated.  "Why don't you two go on ahead while I wash up?" 

"You sure?" Sara questioned.  "We can wait for you outside the door."

Grissom gave her a lopsided smile.  "Yeah, I'm sure.  Go on.  I'll catch up with you."

"Okay," Sara relented.  "Um, why don't you meet us down there at Blockbuster Videos?"

"All right.  I won't take very long."

He washed his hands and face, scrubbed the ice cream residue from the top of his shoe, and was out the door a few minutes later.

Sara's smiling face occupied his thoughts as his feet moved forward in unhurried steps.  He still found it difficult to believe that he was dating such a wonderful and brilliant woman.  

He just hoped he could keep himself from doing anything stupid that might drive her away again.

Despite his preoccupied state of mind, the hairs on the back of his neck rose in awareness when the patchwork of tiles on the floor seemed to tremble under his feet.

Grissom stopped in his tracks, staring intently at the floor where he stood.  His gaze swept upward as a low rumble echoed through the walls and everything began to shake.

He was vaguely aware of the falling debris when a large fragment knocked him unconscious.

_________________________________________________________

_To Be Continued............._


	29. Chapter 29

He was having a good dream.  And like most of his dreams, this one was laced with past memories of years before.

_Dr. Grissom's forensics seminar was going smoothly as usual, and more than once his eye had been caught by that pretty brunette in the third row who seemed to be paying just a little more attention to his presentation than the others._

_Through the short distance from stage podium to audience seats, his skill of observation had mentally catalogued the young woman's eased poise, gap-toothed smile, and chocolate-brown eyes.  _

_She took extensive notes with fluid movements of her pen, occasionally underlining the more important points for emphasis._

_With just a brief peek at his notes, Dr. Grissom continued fluently with his presentation until the seminar recessed for a half-hour break._

_Gil casually glanced around the large room, easily locating the brunette as she was steered through the exit doors by another one of the seminar attendees._

_A bit disappointed, he gathered his written notes and shifted his thoughts to a possible cup of java at the coffee stand he'd seen across the street that morning._

_He stepped outside into the bright sunshine, the many sounds of San Francisco registering in his ears.  Turning a corner, he fleetingly heard a woman's voice say, "Get me a double mocha when you get there.  I think I left my notebook inside the building."_

_Moments later, he had collided with the owner of that voice.  He smoothly regained his own footing and put a steadying hand on her arm.  _

_While offering profuse apologies for nearly knocking her down, Gil found himself once again gazing into those deep brown eyes from his seminar._

_"Are you all right?" she asked in concern._

*           *            *

"Hey mister," a thick, raspy voice drifted into Grissom's ear, jogging his consciousness.  "Are you all right?"

"Daddy, is he dead?"  A child inquired in slight morbid fascination. 

Grissom groaned, slowly opening his eyes and automatically turning his head away from the intrusive noise that had chased away his dream.

"Nah, he's still alive."  The owner of the raspy voice gave Grissom a quick check for injuries.  "His arm's cut, but I don't think he's got any broken bones.  Sir?  Are you okay?  Can you sit up?"

"I——I dunno....." Grissom answered haltingly, shaking the haze from his mind.  He slowly, painfully, managed to sit up.  The settling dust caught in his lungs, prompting a hoarse coughing fit.

"Where's your sport bottle, Tommy?" the man asked the little boy.  "I think our friend here could use a drink of water."

Tommy rummaged around in his child-sized backpack and pulled out a snap-top water bottle.  He opened the nozzle and handed it to Grissom, who gratefully downed a few swallows without a thought as to the germs lingering on the bottle.

"What happened?" he asked, handing the water bottle back to the child.

The boy's father answered.  "Well, I guess we had an earthquake.  Small one......but damaging, nevertheless."

Grissom's eyes focused on the surrounding litter and without warning, he was struck by a flashback of the crime lab's explosion——glass raining down on everything.........and Sara nowhere in sight.  

_But Sara had survived that explosion.  She could survive an earthquake, too._

_Right?_

Grissom jumped to his feet with one aim in mind:  finding Sara.  But a swift assault of vertigo forced him to grasp at the wall, swaying on unsteady legs.

"Whoa there, buddy!"  The helpful man grabbed Grissom's uninjured arm to keep him from falling.  "You trying to kill yourself?"

"I've gotta find Sara!" Grissom gasped, panic-stricken.  "If anything's happened to her——"

*           *            *

"Are you okay?" Sara asked in a wheezy voice.  _I sound like I'm having an asthma attack,_ she thought wryly.

Katie coughed against the thick dust that threatened to choke them both.  "I think so," she answered dazedly.  "Are you?"

Sara winced as she scooted into a better position.  The sensation in her left shin kept alternating between a dull throb and a sharp stabbing pain.  

Sara rubbed the dirt out of her eyes and squinted at the leg in question, quickly discovering the source of her discomfort.  "Well......I've got a hole in my leg that wasn't there before," she replied in oddly shell-shocked calmness.  

Katie stared at her in horror.  "A _hole?!" _ 

She scrambled over to Sara's injured leg, gasping at the bloody gash that was visible through the torn denim.  "That's from the glass cabinet, isn't it?" she demanded angrily through her onslaught of tears.  "I knew you'd get hurt!  You shouldn't have done it!"

"And let it fall on _you_ instead?" Sara countered in a stronger voice than before.  "No way."  She drew a short breath, wheezing again from the dust.  "It probably only looks worse than it really is."

Katie choked back her grief as she searched in vain for something to cover the soiled wound.  

Not finding anything even remotely useful, she gave up and sank to the ground next to Sara.  "I'm scared, Mommy," she whispered, curling up against the woman's side.

Sara put a protective arm around the girl, gently pulling her closer.  "Here——lay down.  Put your head on my lap."

Katie did so.

Sara brushed a curl back from Katie's eyes and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.  "Someone will find us," she said firmly.  "Rescue workers would have been alerted immediately.  They'll find us."

"How do you know they will?" Katie rebutted quietly, feeling much less faith in a rescue than Sara did.

Sara searched her brain for a convincing response.  "Because they have to," she finally answered.  "It's their job."

Katie said nothing more.

"If I had the strength, I'd try and dig us out myself," Sara murmured.

Katie sniffled.  "Might cause a cave-in, though."

"Yeah."  Sara comfortingly stroked the child's soft hair as she glanced at their surroundings.  "I hope Grissom is in a better situation than we are."  _And he'd better still be alive,_ she added silently.

They waited.  

And waited.  

And waited some more.

After a while, Katie mumbled in a small voice, "It's getting hard to breathe in here."

"I know, sweetie," Sara answered weakly.  "Just take small breaths, okay?"

Katie's eyelids drooped wearily as she fought the impending fatigue.  Exhaustion finally won out, and she began to drift off to sleep......

Suddenly, her eyes popped open.  "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what, Katie-bug?" Sara responded sleepily.

Katie lifted her head off Sara's lap, now very much awake.  "I hear voices!"

Sara, too, opened her eyes.  She strained her ears to hear what had caught Katie's attention.  A faint, muffled shout managed to reach her eardrums.  "Thank God," she whispered to herself.

Her tiredness forgotten, Katie jumped up, quickly finding which direction the voice was coming from.  "Help!" she shouted to the disembodied voice.  "My mom is hurt!"

___________________________________________________________________________

_To Be Continued............._


	30. Chapter 30

Leaving the man and his young son with paramedics, Grissom took off for that one place Sara had said to meet: Blockbuster Videos.

He made his way through the debris-filled corridor and turned a corner, stopping short at seeing the video store sign lying in the middle of the hallway, broken in half.

Rescue workers and paramedics swarmed the seemingly endless rubble, searching for survivors and treating the wounded.

"Sara!" Grissom shouted, approaching an area being cordoned off by orange _'Caution'_ tape. His eyes frantically scanned the area, unsuccessful in locating the one he sought. "Sara! Katie! Where are you?"

A rather large paramedic appeared suddenly, laying a gloved hand on Grissom's shoulder. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to step aside. This is an unsafe, restricted area."

But Grissom paid him no attention, for he had just spotted Sara far away from him, perched on a small stool with her leg propped up in front of her.

Below her knee, Sara's pant leg had been cut away from her shin wound, and a female medic skillfully worked on the tender flesh with a threaded suture needle.

Katie stood beside her with green eyes wide in fright and concern as she held a cool, damp cloth to Sara's forehead.

Sara gasped and squinted her eyes against the pain of having her leg stitched up.

"Oh god, Sara," Grissom whispered to himself, desperate to get to her. _"Let me go!"_ he demanded, jerking his arm free of the paramedic's grasp.

"Sir, please calm down. Your family will be just fine, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait over there."

"I need to see them," Grissom insisted relentlessly, all rational thought gone from his mind the minute he had found Sara.

"Sir! Sir, please!" The paramedic was quickly losing the battle. "Ronny, help me out here!"

Another large man appeared. "Sir, you seem to be injured. Let's go get your arm fixed up, okay? I promise you can see your family as soon as possible."

Grissom's loss of blood from the gash on his arm suddenly drained him of his energy. "Okay," he conceded weakly, ceasing the struggle and allowing himself to be sat down on a dirty wooden bench.

The second paramedic attempted a conversation as he cleaned and patched up Grissom's arm. "My name's Ron. What's your name, sir?"

"Uh, Grissom," he answered distractedly.

"Well, Mr. Grissom, you just sit tight and I'll see if I can get your wife and daughter over here soon. All right?"

Grissom nodded, not bothering to correct the paramedic's assumption of his marital status.

Ron finished his job and left.

Grissom tiredly closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall, silently thanking the powers in heaven that Sara and Katie were alive.

A few minutes later, he opened his eyes to find the two standing silently before him.

Katie was wrapped up in a grey blanket, holding tightly to Sara's hand. She had dust in her hair and dried tear trails down her cheeks, but looked otherwise unhurt.

A bruise was beginning to appear on Sara's wrist, dark against her pale skin. She had a bandage covering her shin, and a smudge of dirt on her face.

In his lifetime, Grissom had never seen a more beautiful sight.

He silently held his arms out.

Katie sank down onto the bench on Grissom's left side, while Sara took the right.

Grissom wrapped an arm around each of them.

Sara slipped one arm behind his back and laid her head against his shoulder; a gesture that warmed Grissom in its simple intimacy.

Tightening his arm around her, he rested his cheek against the top of Sara's head.

They sat there for a while, just holding each other. Eventually, Grissom broke the silence.

"I was looking for you two," he began quietly. "I couldn't find you anywhere. And then I finally saw you over there...but some paramedic stopped me. He wouldn't let me go to you." Grissom took a deep breath and continued, "But he said to me...he said, 'Sit tight, and I'll get your wife and daughter to see you'."

"Wife and daughter? He said that?" Sara murmured against his shoulder in slight amusement.

"He said that," Grissom confirmed. "And you know what?"

"Hmm?"

Softly, he answered, "I think it sounds really nice...especially the 'wife' part."

Sara lifted her head off his shoulder to look straight into his eyes. _Did I hear that correctly, or are my ears playing tricks on me?_

"Sara, it terrified me when I thought something had happened to you," Grissom continued, never taking his eyes from hers. "I was scared to death I'd lost you." His forefinger gently traced the smudge of dirt on Sara's cheek. "It made me realize...I don't think I can live without you. Honey, I don't even want to _try_ it!"

Sara stared wide-eyed at the man who had just poured his heart out to her. "What are you saying, Grissom?" she asked quietly, her breath catching in her throat.

The words tumbled unbidden from his lips. "I'm saying I love you, Sara...and I guess I'm asking you to marry me."

_To Be Continued..._


	31. Chapter 31

Of all the things Grissom could have said to her, _'I love you'_ and _'Marry me'_ were definitely at the very bottom of Sara's list.  His answer was so random and completely unexpected that Sara was nearly positive she'd misheard him.  

She stared at him in shock.  "Did you just say what I think you said?"

Grissom was almost as surprised by it as she was, but he hid it well.  "I'm pretty sure I did."

Sara's heart skipped a beat as the full weight of his words sunk in.  Judging by the honest and sincere expression on his face, Grissom was dead-serious about it.

"You, uh......you probably want some time to think about it," he began to add, but Sara silenced him by touching a finger to his lips.

She removed her finger and briefly pressed her lips to his.

"So, is that a 'yes'?"

Sara gave him a full smile, confirming, "Yes."

A smile stretched across his own face as Grissom pulled Sara close for another kiss.  

Her mouth moved against his, opening up to him.  Her fingers tangled in his salt-and-pepper curls as they laid claim to each other's lips.

They eventually pulled apart for lack of oxygen, and he rested his forehead against hers, both of them breathing heavily.

Grissom's fingers brushed through the ends of Sara's hair, then came back up to gently caress her cheek as he pulled back to look at her.  "This is probably going to sound really dumb, but......I think I fell in love the first time I met you at that seminar all those years ago."

Sara leaned into his touch, her eyes glistening.  "You're not the only one who fell in love back then," she confessed softly.

Katie had been watching them with rapt attention, and now she spoke up.  "You're getting married?  Does this mean you're gonna be my dad for real?" 

Smoothing back Katie's wavy bangs, Grissom kissed her forehead.  "You bet it does, sweetheart."

Katie smiled widely as she squeezed a careful hug around his middle.  "Cool!"

A sudden shadow fell over the trio and a masculine voice ventured, "Sara?"

At hearing her name spoken by someone other than Grissom, Sara turned her head, surprised to see the tall blonde man standing there.  "Hank."

"I thought that was you," Hank Peddigrew said with a little smile.  "Are you okay?  Can I get you anything?"

"We're fine," Sara replied, not the least bit in want of his help.  "Thanks."

Hank nodded uncomfortably.  "Dr. Grissom......good to see you, sir."

Grissom gave a polite yet quite insincere smile, pulling Katie's blanket tighter around her shoulders.

"And who's this?" Hank asked curiously, but nicely.

Sara looked to Katie, then to Grissom, before answering, "This is Katie.....our daughter."

Hank turned visibly pale and his throat went dry, making him cough.  "I'm sorry?  Your _daughter?_" he croaked out.

Feeling unusually wicked, Grissom enjoyed Hank's discomfort.  "Yes, Mr. Peddigrew.  Katie is our daughter," he clarified with a smile.

Katie grinned to herself, wondering just who this nervous-looking man was.

Hank nodded slowly, taking a step back.  "Well.....wow.  I'm, uh.....I'm glad you're all okay," he said awkwardly, but still sincerely.  "I guess I'll.....see you around."  With one more very confused look, he departed.

Grissom chuckled and shook his head at Sara.  

"What?" Sara asked.

"You have no intention of telling him the truth, do you?" he remarked, already knowing full well what the answer was.

Sara smirked.  "Serves him right."  As she looked around at the results of the natural disaster, she ventured, "Do you think we should stay and help?  I'd feel guilty if we didn't at least offer assistance."

"We're not paramedics or rescue workers," Grissom reminded her gently.  "We'd probably actually hinder more than help."

"Yeah, you're right," Sara admitted with a sigh.  "It looks like they've got most of it under control now, anyway.  Let's get out of here, then."

Katie slid off the bench, folding her borrowed blanket a bit crookedly and leaving it on the seat for the rescue workers to collect.  The scratchy grey fabric smelled funny, and she didn't really need it anymore.  

"I saw you getting stitches in your leg," Grissom told Sara as he rose from the bench.  "Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?"

Sara shook her head.  "It's fine.  Doesn't hurt anymore.  I don't like hospitals anyway."  

Grissom wanted to argue and make Sara go and get checked over properly, but decided not to force the issue this time.  "How about you?" he asked Katie.  "Did you get hurt anywhere?"

"I'm okay," Katie answered.  "Mom kept a big glass cabinet from falling on me.  That's how she got her leg cut."

"And it's just _fine_," Sara stubbornly insisted once more.  She held her hands towards Grissom.  "Help me up."

Being careful to avoid touching her injured limb, Grissom carefully pulled Sara to her feet.

"Hey, remember the last time you helped me up?" Sara asked with a little smile.  "After you tickled my feet and pushed me down on the floor?"

"Well, I know I didn't push you onto the floor," Grissom answered seriously, but with a twinkle in his eye.  "You did that to yourself."  He put his hands lightly on her hips.  "But I _do_ remember what I wanted to do after you were up."

Sara's heartbeat quickened as she rested her hands on his chest.  "And what's that?" she asked softly.

"This."  Grissom slipped both arms around her waist and gently pulled her against him.  He tilted his head and captured her bottom lip between his.

"Mmm......"  Sara wound her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.  

"Oooh, kissy kissy," Katie said with a cheeky grin.  

Sara chuckled against Grissom's lips.  They pulled apart halfway, keeping an arm around each other's waists.  

Sara held a hand out to Katie with a smile.  "Come on, kiddo.  Let's go."

Katie took the offered hand, and together they left the earthquake-damaged mall.

___________________________________________________________________________

_To Be Continued............._


	32. Chapter 32

"You really should take the night off, Sara," Grissom urged, trying his best not to sound patronizing.  "You need to rest so your leg can heal properly."

"You got hurt, too," Sara replied simply.  "You may hide the bandage under your sleeve, but I know it's there."

"But _you_ got stitches," Grissom reminded her.  "I didn't.  My injury wasn't as bad as yours."

"And I probably didn't even _need_ those stitches," Sara immediately contradicted.  "It's hardly more than a scratch, and one little day of rest isn't going to heal me.  Besides, I survived a lab explosion that wasn't that much different.  Now give me a case to work."

Grissom had to smile, despite Sara's stubbornness regarding her health.  She really was a dedicated workaholic.  "Fine.  You can join Nick on his hit-and-run."

"Great," Sara said enthusiastically.  "Thanks, Griss."

"But," Grissom continued, walking around his desk and coming to a stop directly in front of Sara.  "If you start to feel pain or anything, I want you to stop and get some rest, all right?"

"Sure," Sara said with a shrug of her shoulder.  

"Sara," Grissom warned lightly, seriously doubting that she would actually take his advice about resting.

"I _will_, Grissom."  Sara rolled her eyes with a grin.  "I promise."

Grissom peered into her soft brown eyes.  "Okay.  I'll just have to trust you on that."  Then checking first to make sure there were no prying eyes spying into his office, he leaned in for a kiss.

*           *            *

"Greg is fingerprinting Katie?" Nick asked curiously as they passed one of the layout rooms later on in the day.  

"Yeah......Grissom told him to practice it a little more, and Katie volunteered her fingers to help him," Sara answered with a grin.  

"That's sweet.  You've got a really good kid, you know."

"Thanks," Sara responded.  "You guys have all had a positive influence on her, too.  She looks up to all of you.......especially her 'Uncle Nick'."

"Yeah, but you've had the most influence on her........being the one raising her," Nick replied honestly.  "And from what I've seen, Katie couldn't have a better mom than you."

Sara gave him a sincere smile.  "It means a lot to me, hearing that."

"Just telling it like it is."  Nick returned the smile as they rounded a corner.  

Sara eyed the nearing locker room door, feeling the need to check on her shin wound.  Its off-and-on itching had been distracting her for the past half hour.

"Hey, I'll meet you in the garage in a few minutes," she said.  "I gotta take care of something."

"Sure," Nick agreed easily.  "You need help with anything?"

"Nope, I can handle it.  Thanks," Sara replied, disappearing into the locker room.

She opened her locker, took out a small first aid kit, and moved to the bench in the middle of the room.  

Sitting sideways on the bolted-down plank of varnished wood, she propped her left foot up on the seat and pulled her flared pant leg up to her knee.  

Sara winced as she tugged the white bandage tape off her skin, then she wadded up the mess of soiled gauze and tape, and chucked it into the trash.  A careful inspection of the wound and stitches showed no sign of infection.

"Does it hurt?"

Sara looked up.  

Grissom stood leaning against the doorway with his hands in his pockets.

"No, it doesn't hurt," Sara answered.  "It itches a little, but it's fine otherwise."  She picked up a tube of antiseptic gel and squeezed a glob onto the wound, then covered it with a sterile gauze pad.  

She held a roll of bandage tape towards Grissom.  "Wanna tape me up?" 

Grissom smiled, took the tape, and sat down.  With gentle fingers, he smoothed four wide strips of tape along the edges of the gauze square that Sara held in place.  Then he pulled her pant leg down over the bandage.

"Thank you."  Sara removed her foot from the bench and wiped off the shoe print she left behind.  

Grissom closed up the first aid box and set it aside, then scooted considerably closer to Sara, lightly resting his hands on both of her jeans-clad knees.  

Sara offered no objections, a come-hither smile gracing her features.

He moved forward again, until he was no more than three inches from her mouth.  

"We're in the locker room, Gil," Sara gave a half-hearted protest, barely even realizing she'd used his given name for the first time.

"So?"  He moved an inch closer.

"So, anybody could walk in on us.  We could get in trouble," she offered weakly, getting lost in Grissom's blue eyes.  His close proximity was nearly making her head spin.

"At the moment, I don't really care."  Grissom ran the tip of his tongue along the outer edge of Sara's bottom lip.  One strong arm snaked around her waist as he eliminated all space between their bodies.

Abandoning all pretenses of objection, Sara threaded her fingers through his soft curls, encouraging his passionate kiss.  

Grissom broke the contact before things could get too heated, but kept his arm around her.  "How am I supposed to get through the rest of the day without being able to do that?" he asked, his lips burning from the kiss.

Sara gave a soft chuckle.  "Well, you managed to survive the past four years........... I don't think a few more hours will kill you."

"Four _excruciating_ years," Grissom corrected her.  "Do you have any idea how much self-control I had to maintain?  There were times when I didn't know if I wanted to kiss you or wring your pretty little neck."

"You?  What about _me?_" Sara answered with a smirk.  "_I_ had four excruciating years too, you know.  Never knowing from one minute to the next whether I should smack you, or seduce you."

"Yeah," Grissom responded softly, running his fingers gently up and down her spine.  "I know.  And I'm sorry for that."  

They held each other for a few moments longer before he ventured, "So.....when should we plan the wedding for?"

At the mention of that particular subject, he felt Sara tense immediately, and he pulled back to look at her.  "What's the matter?"

Suddenly, she refused to meet his eyes.  Only after standing up and moving a few feet away did Sara face him again.  "Um......Grissom.......I think we need to seriously talk about it before, uh, jumping into anything."

Grissom's heart sank.  _This is the part where she shocks me with her words and then leaves before I can even answer her._

He swallowed a lump in his throat.  "Are you having second thoughts about marrying me?"

She lifted her shoulders in a helpless gesture.  "I honestly don't know.  I......I just can't help but wonder if you only asked me in the heat of the moment."

Grissom's heart lurched.  "Sara, what are you talking about?"

"I realize that under extreme conditions, sometimes people say things they don't really mean," she continued softly.  "Emotions.......they run rampant in dangerous situations.  And we _were_ in danger in that earthquake."

He tried to wrap his mind around what she was saying.  "So when you said 'yes'......you didn't really mean it?"

"Of course I meant it!" Sara exclaimed.  "It's not every day that the man I'm in love with asks me to marry him——it isn't something I take lightly!"

"Then what's wrong?  What are you afraid of?" Grissom demanded to know, flabbergasted that that conversation was even taking place.

Sara's answer was so quiet that he almost didn't hear it.  "I'm afraid that you might regret it."

Time seemed to stand still as he stared at her in disbelief.  "Sara.......the only thing I regret is taking this long to ask you in the first place.  I just don't understand why you're suddenly making this more difficult than it needs to be."

Unable to bear seeing the hurt in his eyes any longer, Sara turned away once more.  "I'm sorry.  I shouldn't even have brought it up.  I never seem to say the right thing, and I always manage to make things worse."

"No.....for once, I think it's best that we _do_ talk about it," Grissom answered softly.  "I don't want you to feel like you're being forced to do something you don't want to do."

"That's just it, Gil.  I _do_ want to marry you.  But I want it to be for the right reason."

"Sara."  Grissom came to stand behind her, hesitantly resting his hands on her waist.  "I love you.  _I_ know I do, and I hope _you_ know I do.  And I believe you when you say that you love me too.  But if you don't think love is a good enough reason........then I don't know what else to do."

Sara didn't lean into his embrace, but she didn't pull away either.  With a deep breath to push back her unshed tears, she slowly turned to face him.

Her hands rose to gently cradle his face, and she pressed a kiss to his bottom lip.  "I guess I can't really argue with love, can I?"

___________________________________________________________________________

_To Be Continued............._


	33. Chapter 33

"Everything okay?" Nick questioned when Sara entered the garage for evidence processing.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Sara answered cheerfully, giving no indication that she'd been upset about something just minutes ago.

"You sure?" Nick pressed. "Cause it took you a while to get out here."

"I'm fine, Nick," Sara insisted. Hoping to deter his interest, she fibbed, "It's just girl stuff; you wouldn't want to know."

"Girl stuff," he echoed with a smirk. "You're right——I probably _don't_ want to know."

Sara gave his arm a friendly swat. "Can we just get to work?"

"I _have_ been working," Nick responded good-naturedly. "While you were off powdering your nose....or whatever it was you were doing in there."

Sara scoffed lightly, narrowing her eyes. She lifted her field kit and informed Nick, "I'll be on the _other_ side of the car."

* * *

"I take it that things are good between you and Sara?"

Grissom smirked at Brass' straightforwardness. "Was that a question, or a comment?"

"An observation," Jim shrugged as they walked side-by-side down a short corridor. "You're both looking more like normal people lately, and I'm sure it's not just because you've got Katie back."

Grissom tilted his head in concession. "You are correct."

Jim grinned to himself. This was easier than he thought it would be. "So have you taken Sara on any more dates?"

"As a matter of fact, I have."

"Yeah? Good! And?"

Grissom paused before one of the interrogation room doors, and responded casually, "And I've also asked her to marry me."

Brass' mouth dropped open. "What?"

"But I'm afraid you can't tell that to anyone," Grissom added with a satisfied smile. "It's a secret." Leaving Brass in shock, he opened the interrogation room door and disappeared inside.

Jim huffed to himself. "He drops a bombshell like that on me, and then says I can't tell anyone. Son of a...."

Shaking his head, he swallowed the rest of his comment and followed his colleague into the interrogation room.

* * *

After the interrogation of their current murder suspect was over, Brass waited until he and Grissom were the only two remaining in the room.

While Grissom collected his enlarged evidence photos from the table and deposited them inside his file folder, Brass took the opportunity to chat.

"So?"

Grissom raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Do you feel any different?"

The eyebrow furrowed in slight confusion. "About what?"

Jim released a sigh of frustration. "About being engaged!"

"Oh." Grissom thought for a brief moment, then truthfully answered, "No. _Should_ I feel different?"

Jim gave him a knowing smile. "It just hasn't hit you yet. But when it does——and trust me, it will——you'll panic."

_Panic?_ Grissom echoed silently. _Panic is what happened when I couldn't find Sara in that mall after the earthquake. Getting married couldn't possibly be that scary._ But he simply shook his head and lied, "I don't panic, Jim."

Brass laughed at him. "Famous last words. I remember when I proposed to my wife—the full force of what we were planning to do didn't hit me until a week later. I'd suddenly realized that my life wasn't going to be just about _me_ anymore. Every major decision I made would have to center on what was best for my _wife_, for my _family_. I tell you, responsibility like that can be scary at times."

As he listened to his friend's continuing monologue, an uneasy feeling settled into Grissom's bones, for Jim's speech had struck an abrupt chord of uncertainty within him. What if being married turned out to be more responsibility than he was able to manage? What if it completely drained him emotionally and he couldn't recover?

More questions of doubt branched out into his mind. What if he made all the wrong decisions on all the important matters and caused Sara to suffer from them? What if he wasn't capable of upholding his commitment to her after all? What if their marriage didn't last?

What if this really was more than he and Sara could handle?

* * *

_To Be Continued............_


	34. Chapter 34

Grissom tried to force those evil thoughts out of his head, not wanting to dwell on them for even a second. Hadn't he calmed Sara's fears about this kind of thing just a little while ago?

_But that was different,_ he argued with himself. _Sara was only afraid that I might not really love her. And I do love her—there's no question about that. I'm just not positive I'm ready to give up my space and my privacy...and possibly my **sanity**._

He realized Brass was still talking to him, and he rudely interrupted in an effort to escape the rest of their personal conversation.

"I'm sorry, Jim, but I just remembered something urgent in my office I need to take care of," Grissom excused, and quickly disappeared.

Brass raised an eyebrow after him. "Okay..." Then he shrugged his shoulders, "Whatever," and simply moved on.

* * *

Grissom closed his office door behind him, locked it against the world outside, and pulled his window shades shut for good measure. He deliberately left the ceiling light turned off, and retreated to the chair behind his desk.

He just sat there for a moment, then reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a blank sheet of paper and a pen.

He drew a vertical line down the middle of the page, then wrote "Pros" to the left, and "Cons" to the right.

_Pros,_ he thought. _Well, that's easy. Wake up with Sara every day. Love her. Be loved in return. Have a life...**with** her, rather than in spite of her. Give Katie a permanent father. Cease being labeled as a recluse._

His eyes journeyed over to the other side of the page.

_Cons._

He could think of plenty of those, too. Lack of privacy. No solitude. No peaceful quiet. Invasion of his space. Someone else constantly in his home——_two_ someones, in fact. Other people occupying his space, all their belongings cluttering up his neat and tidy house. Things mixing together with other things, instead of everything organized in its exact place.

And being a father? Well, it was one thing to take a kid to the movies and to get ice cream every now and then, but it's another matter entirely to be continually responsible for their safety and health and happiness.

_My own father couldn't even handle the pressures of being a family man——who's to say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree? What if I make nothing but mistakes in trying to be a father, and Katie only suffers instead of benefits? _

_And what if Sara isn't happy? I've done hardly anything in the past to make her happy, so how could I possibly know what to do in the future?_

It was suddenly overwhelming. What was he thinking?

"Grissom?"

_What?_ He stared with confusion at the phone in his hand. He hadn't even realized he'd dialed Sara's number until he heard her concerned voice come through the plastic handset.

"Grissom? I know it's you. What's wrong?"

And with just a brief sound of her soothing voice in his ear, Grissom's panic seemed to melt away.

A feeling of extreme guilt took its place. He felt like an idiot, doubting himself and Sara the way he did.

"You're starting to scare me, Grissom," Sara said through the phone. "What's going on?"

He finally vocalized an answer. "I'm here. I'm fine. I just...I just needed to hear your voice."

"Oh." Amused and somewhat curious, Sara asked, "Are you sure everything's okay? Did you need to talk to me about something?"

"No, it's fine. It's nothing..."

"Okay," Sara accepted, not pressing further. "Oh, I was going to tell you this later, but I might as well do it now. We have an appointment next Monday morning with Katie's social worker."

"Papers to sign?" Grissom questioned.

"Probably not yet. According to Nevada state law, couples who are trying to adopt together must be married before any adopting takes place. I have several questions for the social worker, and I'm sure you will too."

"Yes," he agreed. "I will have questions for her."

"Alright. I have to go now." Sara lowered her voice and added, "I love you."

She got a heartfelt "I love you too" in return.

Grissom hung up the phone. He looked at his page of Pros and Cons.

Taking his ink pen, he drew a large X through the word "Cons". And with a smile on his face, he wadded up the paper and threw it in the trash.

* * *

_To Be Continued..._


	35. Chapter 35

Grissom scribbled his signature on the last form in the small stack the social worker had handed him, and he passed the stack back to her.

Ms. Stewart scanned quickly through each page to see that everything had been filled out, then she filed them into her briefcase. "Okay, that's everything for now. You should expect to hear back from me in about one week regarding the status of your application. And if either of you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to call me."

Sara and Grissom walked Ms. Stewart to the door, gave their thanks, and shook her hand.

"Bye!" Katie called to her before she left.

Ms. Stewart smiled and waved. "Goodbye, dear."

Grissom closed his front door, and then on pure impulse he caught Sara from behind, both of his arms winding around her waist. He swayed her gently from side to side, almost dancing but not quite.

Sara laughed softly as she leaned into him. "Grissom, what are you doing?"

"I don't know," he replied happily. "Isn't this what people do when they're in love?"

"How would I know? This is the first time I've ever been in love." She turned around in his arms, facing him, and lifted her own arms to drape over his shoulders. "But I do know one thing people do when they're in love."

"Kiss?" Grissom ventured hopefully.

"Well, that too," Sara conceded. She leaned in close to Grissom's ear and whispered, "The men give their girlfriends really nice…_foot massages_."

Grissom gave her a mock scowl. "I think I'd rather take the kissing."

Sara grinned evilly at him. "Oh, you can have the kissing too….provided you give the massaging first." She sat down in Grissom's favorite chair and propped her feet up on the matching footstool, wiggling her toes for emphasis.

Katie watched Sara's feet as Grissom kneaded the soreness and tension out of them. Having a foot rub looked like fun to her.

When Grissom finished with Sara's feet, Katie plopped down in the other chair and waved her feet at him. "Me, too!"

Grissom took one of her feet in his hand. But instead of giving her a foot massage like he'd given Sara, he rubbed his day's worth of facial stubble across Katie's sole.

"Oww!" Katie laughed and pulled her foot away. "You need a _shave_!"

He just shrugged, and perched comfortably on the thick arm of the chair Sara occupied.

Sara gave him a warm smile. He returned it easily, his eyes lingering on her pretty face.

He still felt guilty about his idiotic panicking concerning their relationship, even though an entire week had passed since then.

But the guilt was fading away now, as happiness leaked into him and left little room for despair anymore. He still marveled at the recent turn of events in his life, and he was honestly looking forward to being a husband to Sara.

_'When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew,' _he quoted to her in his head._ So perfectly true. Shakespeare certainly knew what he was talking about._

His reverie was interrupted by his back muscles finally protesting their pinched position, and Grissom reluctantly moved off the arm of Sara's chair and sat a few feet away on his couch.

Katie had turned on the TV by then and found a children's cartoon to occupy her attention.

Uninterested in the cartoon, Sara got up and went to the kitchen for something to drink. Moments later, Grissom decided to follow.

They were in the kitchen for quite a while, and Katie eventually realized that they still hadn't returned yet.

_It's quiet in there,_ she thought to herself. _I bet they're kissing._

She peeked around the corner of the wall at the two people in the kitchen. A smile spread across her face.

_Yep. They're kissing. _

* * *

Despite her past claim that she'd never again step foot inside an unsanitary public movie theater, three days later Sara found herself watching the latest Lizzie McGuire movie on the big-screen. 

Surprisingly, this time there were neither large and sticky wads of gum on the floor, nor large and grumpy bald men around to get irritated at their not-very-hushed whispering.

The movie was quite dumb in Sara's opinion, but she was glad that Katie seemed to be enjoying it.

Sara turned her head to look at Grissom, who was seated to her left.

Grissom looked downright bored. "Tell me again why I paid money to see this?" he whispered to Sara.

"Because sneaking in for free is illegal," Sara whispered back.

Grissom frowned, but gave her arm a playful nudge.

Sara grinned at him, then shifted her attention to the small packet of M&Ms in her hand. She dumped a few onto her palm, and traded all the red ones for Katie's yellow ones.

Grissom observed this covertly, taking mental notes.

Sara gave him a handful of picked-over candies and said quietly, "I'll trade these for your red and yellow."

He raised an eyebrow at her.

Sara raised one in return, with an expectant smile.

So in the dark of the movie theater, Grissom poured his own package of M&Ms into his hand, picked out all the red and yellow, and handed them to Sara along with a smirk.

"Thanks." Sara popped a yellow candy into her mouth and deposited the red ones into Katie's hand.

Grissom waited until all the candy had been consumed and was out of the way, then he casually picked up Sara's left hand, slipping his fingers between hers.

Sara caught his eye in the dark and smiled, curling her fingers over his knuckles.

_Now_, Grissom silently told himself. _Do it now._

His heart pounded in anticipation as he reached into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out something small and shiny.

Holding the circular object securely between thumb and forefinger, he slid the cool metal over Sara's manicured fingernail, past the second knuckle, and all the way up her finger.

The gold ring burned a cold fire around Sara's finger. She looked at the modest diamond sparkling against her hand, and turned her loving brown eyes to Grissom's face.

Grissom's blue eyes shined at his beloved Sara. He pressed a kiss to her fingers, then brushed his lips over hers in a sweet affirmation of his affection for her.

* * *

_To be continued..._


	36. Chapter 36

Sara kept eyeing the ring on her left hand. It sparkled at her in the diminishing sunlight as she drove to work early that evening.

The diamond felt very conspicuous there on her finger, and twice she'd considered taking the ring off and hiding it away in her pocket so no one would see it.

But she hadn't. She simply didn't want to. Her fiancée had put that ring there, and there it would stay.

Sara chuckled to herself, repeating the word _fiancée_ in her head.

"What's funny?" Katie asked, hearing the chuckle and seeing the upturned quirk of Sara's lips.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing," Sara answered, parking her vehicle in the CSI parking lot. "It just still feels kind of weird thinking of Grissom as my 'fiancée'."

"Weird? Why? _I_ think it's _cool!_"

Sara smiled. "Of course you do, kid. And I think it's cool, too. But as for getting used to it…that's another matter entirely."

"Just wait 'till you're married," Katie advised logically. "Then he _won't_ be your fiancée anymore."

"True," Sara allowed, unbuckling her seatbelt and getting out of the vehicle. "Then he'll be my _husband_, which will probably take even _longer_ to get used to."

"So…can we tell anybody yet?" Katie asked hopefully, though she suspected the answer would remain the same as before.

"Sorry," Sara answered, confirming the child's suspicion.

Katie wrinkled her nose in disappointment. "Darn."

Sara chuckled, following Katie into the building. She turned the ring around on her finger, resting the diamond toward her palm and away from any curious and prying eyes.

* * *

Grissom was elbow-deep in an experiment when he was called for an impromptu "meeting" with the Crime Lab's director Robert Carvallo. 

Not the least bit interested in anything Carvallo might have to say, Grissom chose to finish his work before having to waste the rest of his precious time with the Director.

"You took your time getting here," Carvallo remarked as Grissom sat uncomfortably in one of the two stiff chairs present.

"I was in the middle of an experiment," Grissom coolly answered.

"Assisted by the ever-capable Miss Sidle, I assume."

Grissom narrowed his eyes at the immediate mention of Sara. "Never assume, Robert. You only make an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'."

"_You're_ the one who's making an ass—out of this lab!"

Grissom ignored the Lab Director's explosive tone, but couldn't dismiss the accusation. "What do you mean, Robert?" he asked cautiously, continuing to use Carvallo's first name informally as a deliberate jab to undermine his authority.

Carvallo leaned forward in his seat, pressing the tips of his fingers together over the middle of his desk. "Did you really believe that your relationship with Sara Sidle would go on unnoticed by anyone?" he asked slowly, ensuring there would be no mistake concerning what their meeting was about.

Grissom's heart skipped two beats as the weight of the words sank in. How could Carvallo possibly have found them out? They hadn't done anything inappropriate at work that he could recall. Sure, he'd kissed her in the locker room that one time, but nobody else had been in there. And no security cameras were installed in the locker room, so they hadn't been caught on videotape, either.

The only other person who knew about him and Sara was Detective Brass. And Grissom was sure Jim hadn't spilled the beans. Someone could have seen Grissom and Sara in that mall the day he'd proposed to her after the earthquake…

Anyone could have seen them together anytime and assumed the truth.

Carvallo's expression was both smug and grim. Smug at the fact that nobody could keep secrets from him in his Lab, and grim because of the repercussions he knew he must administer.

Grissom fought the chill in his blood as he levelly asked, "What do you know about it?"

Carvallo sneered at Dr. Grissom's ignorance. "I saw you and CSI Sidle exchanging public displays of affection at the Tropicana Cinema just yesterday afternoon."

"Spying on your employees?" Grissom challenged with a false bravado.

"I was at that theater with my two granddaughters," Carvallo retorted. "I _hadn't_ anticipated seeing two employees of this Crime Lab boldly violating their non-fraternization rules!"

Grissom was mad. He steeled himself against Carvallo's oh-so-true accusations, and generalized his response in a vain attempt to preserve his and Sara's integrity. "What the people of this lab do on their own time is _their_ business, Robert. Not yours, not the Lab's."

"That's where you're wrong, _Gil_," Carvallo contradicted, growing extremely irritated with Dr. Grissom's informality with him. "If it's something that impacts this lab, it _is_ my business. Do I really need to explain to you the meaning of 'nepotism'?"

"That's unfair. I've never played favorites in this lab, and you know it."

"Do I?" Carvallo called his bluff. "It seems I recall several occasions when you acted in profit of your individual subordinates, regardless of whether or not it was beneficial for the _Lab_."

He was caught, and he knew it. How many times had he rushed a case for Sara or for Nick when they wanted to see justice done, omitted certain things from Catherine's performance evaluations to keep her on the job, forgiven Warrick for past bad deeds that were not always so easy to forgive?

He hated to admit it, but Carvallo was right. He had played favorites with his team, and probably especially with Sara. He knew Sara was his one weakness. She had been for quite some time. And Grissom knew, and Carvallo probably knew, that if a desperate situation arose in the future that called for a sacrifice, Grissom would surrender the Lab before he'd lose Sara.

Carvallo took Grissom's long silence as a sign of cooperation. He exercised his authority by concluding their meeting with, "This is not a debate, Grissom. Either break off your personal relationship with Sara Sidle, or I will fire one of you, or both."

And that was it. A harsh ultimatum designed to sabotage the best thing that had ever happened to Grissom.

His sense of loyalty to this Crime Lab was diminishing. He was beginning to despise it. It had, essentially, taken away his life in little bits and pieces. And he'd allowed it, telling himself this _was_ his life.

Carvallo was waiting for an answer.

_Well, he can continue waiting_, Grissom thought, standing up. Not making a single word of promise to his Superior, he sought refuge in the private repose of his own dark office.

He didn't know what to do. He _did_ know that he didn't want to lose Sara again.

_It never fails. Just when I start believing my miracle might actually come true, something else happens._

He needed to fix it. But how?

With a frustrated growl, he dropped his head into his hands. "This isn't going to work," he told himself in miserable defeat. "This just isn't going to work."

After a long moment of deep contemplation, he got up sadly and left his office in search of Sara.

He found her in the Ballistics lab, waiting patiently as Bobby Dawson compared two separate bullets under a microscope.

Sara glanced up at the movement in the doorway. "Hey," she greeted with an easy smile.

Grissom failed to return the smile, leaning dejectedly against the doorframe. "Sara...we need to talk."

* * *

_To Be Continued..._


	37. Chapter 37

"I guess this is your chance to back out while you still can," Sara remarked quietly, slowly twisting her engagement ring around her finger. "Before you're in over your head and it's too late to get out."

"I think I'm well past that point already," Grissom admitted.

"What do you mean?"

He grasped her fingers and gently tugged her toward him. "I'm already in over my head, Sara. And this time...I don't _want_ out."

"They're threatening to fire you," Sara argued feebly. As much as she wanted to have a real life with Grissom, she also didn't want him to resent losing his career he'd worked so hard for in order to have that life together.

"They're threatening to fire you, too," Grissom corrected miserably. "Carvallo said one of us, or even both."

"I'll quit," Sara stated plainly. "If it comes down to it, I'll just quit my job, and you can stay here."

Grissom stared at her. "Is that really what you want to do?"

"No," Sara answered quietly with a shake of her head. "But if I quit, they won't have any reason to fire you. I can't be in your chain of command if I don't even work here anymore. You're more valuable to Carvallo than I am. You've worked here a lot longer than I have, and you've got so much more invested in this job than I do. Surely he'll let you keep your job, if I find work somewhere else."

"Sara, I don't want you to quit your job for me."

"And I don't want _you_ to quit your job for _me._"

Grissom sighed. He wished that, just once, his life would go easy on him.

"Do you remember when I asked for that six-month leave-of-absence a couple of years back?" Sara asked him. "And I mentioned checking out the FBI?"

He nodded solemnly. That simple little request form had plagued him terribly, and he'd been so relieved back then when Sara decided after all to stay.

"When I mentioned leaving this Lab, it wasn't just some offhand comment I made," Sara explained. "I'd really thought it through. And I was fully prepared to leave this place if it really came down to that. In fact, the only thing that really kept me here was you. And that plant you sent me," she added.

"That plant," Grissom repeated with a dry chuckle. "It worked better than I thought it would. Maybe we ought to give one to Carvallo, too. Get him off my back for once."

"It would take a jungle of plants," Sara retorted dryly. "Look, we'll just tell Carvallo I quit. I'm sure he'd rather have me leave than you, anyway. Like I said, you're more valuable to him than I am."

"You're barely even to the middle of your career," Grissom said. "You deserve a chance to see it through as far as you can go. You're a wonderful CSI, Sara. I don't want you to throw it all away just for me."

"What would you do if you didn't work here anymore?" Sara asked him seriously. "I bet you wouldn't retire and stay home all day, every day. You'd go nuts if you had to stop altogether."

He didn't respond, and her comment hung in the air. Grissom sat in his chair, thinking, absently pressing the end of his ink pen against his pursed lips.

At length, he spoke. "An old friend of mine once told me that if I ever decided to leave the Crime Lab, he would give me a job teaching at his University. And I'm seriously considering calling him."

"Is that what you want to do?" Sara asked him, echoing his earlier words to her. "I know how much your job means to you. Being a CSI...it's your whole career——it's your _life_."

"Correction: it _was_ my life." He caught hold of her hand and held it firmly in his. "Sara, honey...for the first time in my life, my career is not the most important thing to me."

Sara remained silent, standing there with her fingers threaded between his.

"I like teaching. I really do," Grissom continued. "I never wanted to be the supervisor of the Graveyard Shift. That position was forced on me when Holly Gribbs died and they transferred Brass back to Homicide. I'm a scientist——not a leader. And lately, it seems that my job is more about the politics than the science, anyway."

"You are a good teacher, Grissom. I know you love sharing your knowledge and experience with others." Sara perched on the corner of his desk as she contemplated their predicament.

The clock on the wall ticked loudly in the silence of Grissom's office. Seconds went by, then a minute, then two.

Grissom stared at the phone on his desk, pondering what would happen if he took that uncertain little leap and called his acquaintance about that job.

His clock's echoed ticking seemed to be mocking him, prodding him to do something. The phone didn't mock, nor did it prod. It sat still and quiet, not unlike the woman perched beside it on the desk.

Sara gave a little start when Grissom's hand reached out to the phone. "Griss..."

His hand remained on the receiver as he looked up to meet her pleading eyes. "Let me do this, Sara," he entreated softly. "...I need to."

He'd made up his mind about it. Sara could see that plainly just looking into his eyes.

He was only waiting now for her approval.

She looked down at the phone, at the masculine hand wrapped determinedly around it. Any other woman would have been happy to accept a sacrifice like this from her man, but Sara just couldn't shake the idea that Grissom might come to regret it.

Well, she'd told him how she felt about the idea, and she knew she likely couldn't change his mind now. Hoping to God that neither of them would be sorry, Sara finally nodded her assent, offering no further protest.

* * *

_To Be Continued..._


	38. Chapter 38

"Our current 'Crime Professor' put in her notice just two days ago," said Jeff McCarthy, Grissom's old friend and the Dean of the University. "Imagine my relief when you called looking for a job."

"I was surprised that there _is_ such a class in this school," Grissom admitted, strolling along with a very quiet Sara by his other side. "Forensic Science doesn't really fit in with Literature and Music, does it?"

"Says the scientist who quotes Shakespeare," Jeff quipped to Sara with a grin.

Sara politely smiled back.

"Yeah, the forensics class wasn't offered here at all until about three years ago," Jeff continued. "With all the crimes we've been having in Nevada, and such a high solve rate especially here in Vegas, we're seeing more and more kids getting interested in the forensics side of it. You probably already know, it's becoming a very popular field," he added. "It just made sense to offer a course on it in our elective curriculum."

"How deep does the material go for the students?" Grissom wanted to know.

Jeff shrugged. "It's really left up to the teacher to decide. We encourage a thorough balanced study covering as many aspects as possible…but there always seem to be some topics which just barely scratch the surface."

Sara could imagine the gears turning in Grissom's head. Knowing him, he was already planning his first itinerary.

"Why is your current professor quitting?" she asked abruptly.

"Maternity Leave. She's starting a family and wants to be a 'stay-at-home' mom."

"So there's nothing about the job itself that's making her resign?" Sara pressed.

Grissom caught her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Sara's still not convinced that I could be happy anywhere but at the Lab," he explained to Jeff.

Jeff gave an understanding and good-natured grin. "Well, I'll tell you what. Why don't you sit in on a class or two and see exactly what you're getting yourself into."

"That's a good idea, Griss," Sara responded softly. "I think you should."

Grissom agreed, and inquired of the appropriate time to do so.

Jeff glanced at his wristwatch. "How 'bout now? The first class starts in ten minutes. You've got time for that, haven't you?

With just a look, Grissom questioned Sara. She gave an encouraging nod and smile.

"Okay," he answered, and they followed Jeff down another long hallway and into a classroom.

There, they were introduced to the current forensics professor, who reminded Sara a little of Jacqui, the fingerprint tech back at the LVPD Crime Lab.

As the students filed in, Grissom and Sara chose two seats off to the side where they could easily observe the entire classroom.

Jeff, after making Grissom promise to stop by his office again later, left them there and journeyed back to his office to fulfill his ongoing duties as Dean.

"I feel like _I'm_ in college again," Sara whispered to Grissom, shifting around in her cramped seat.

Grissom smiled. He preferred recalling the times _after_ Sara's college years——namely, when she'd first breezed into his life like a breath of fresh, beautiful air.

* * *

"You're absolutely _sure_ you want to do this?"

Sara and Grissom glanced at each other briefly before answering together, "We are."

Carvallo let out a long breath, accepting the situation because he really had no alternative. "I am disappointed that the Lab will lose a criminalist with your knowledge and skills," he told Grissom. "But on the other hand, I'm glad I won't have to fire anybody over this and have yet another smudge on my Lab's reputation. That explosion in the DNA lab courtesy of Ms. Willows cost us plenty already."

Grissom gave a neutral nod to that.

"I assume you're submitting your two-week resignation notice, then?" Carvallo continued. "Hardly enough time to find a suitable replacement for the Graveyard Shift supervisor, but that really can't be helped now, can it?"

"Actually…it can," Sara spoke up. "Provided the Lab is willing to negotiate, of course."

Carvallo narrowed his gaze at her. He didn't like the idea of bargaining with his employees—too often, they developed the idea that they were superior, and could hold weight over the Lab Director's head.

No, he didn't like it at all. But in this case, the integrity and operability of his Lab was somewhat in question. He made allowance this once. "I'm listening."

Grissom laid their figurative cards on the table. "My new job won't actually commence for another two months. The instructor I'm taking over for wants to finish out her term with her current students. Until then, I'll remain Supervisor here on the Graveyard Shift, Sara will stay on my team of CSIs, and we'll work under the pretense that nothing has changed." He paused for Carvallo to digest the proposition.

"And how exactly does the Lab benefit from this arrangement?"

"Absolutely no 'favoritism' will be shown by either of us in any capacity of this Lab," Sara responded. "Abiding strictly by the rules of Supervisor and Subordinate, I will continue to respect Grissom's authority in every aspect, and he in turn will continue to afford me the same respect and duties as my fellow subordinates."

Carvallo pursed his lips, but said nothing.

Sara continued, "After the two months are up and Grissom is no longer working here, I would like to transfer to Days. With Grissom working in the daytime and Katie attending school after summer's over, I'll be needing a schedule that doesn't conflict. Working with Eckley on the Day Shift would not be a problem."

"Greg Sanders' training for CSI is progressing satisfactorily," Grissom finished. "When Sara moves to Days, Sanders can join the Night Shift team as a Level I CSI. I think the two extra months are sufficient for that, and finding a new supervisor for Graveyard."

Carvallo was still silent for a long time.

Sara figured the answer was going to be 'no'…but she was pleasantly surprised when Carvallo finally spoke.

"Keep your noses clean," he instructed stiffly. "If I see or hear _anything_ I don't like, you'll find both of your asses in very hot water."

"We'll keep our asses out of the water," Grissom assured dryly.

"I can't promise you a place on Days," Carvallo informed Sara. "If a position becomes available, you may be considered. But until then, you're on Graveyard."

Sara nodded. She'd suspected as much.

"One more thing," Carvallo called to them before they exited. "Don't go broadcasting this to everyone. Just because I accepted it, doesn't mean I approve of it."

Grissom smiled a condescendingly placating smile. "We didn't intend to, Robert. But thank you for that extra bit of consideration for your people."

He held the door for Sara, and followed her out.

She caught his eye, the tension in her expression vanishing with a serene quirk of her lips. Their meeting with Carvallo had gone better than either of them thought it would, and Sara felt like a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders now that it was over with.

Grissom's gaze lingered on Sara's face. He loved her smile. Even the tiniest little hint of it never failed to completely wrap his heart in a warm ribbon of sweet contentment.

Yes, this was definitely the right choice.

Accidentally or deliberately——he wasn't ever sure which anymore——his shoulder brushed against hers as they ventured away from the Director's office.

They crossed paths with Catherine, who stopped right in their way to stare strangely at them.

"What?" Sara asked innocently.

Catherine gave a slight frown. "I've never seen anyone actually _smile_ after speaking with Carvallo. Something special happen in there?"

Grissom looked at Sara with a half smirk. Sara mirrored it back at him, and answered, "Nope. Nothing out of the ordinary."

* * *

To be continued… 


	39. Chapter 39

"So, who's the lucky guy?"

_Lucky guy?_ Sara's mind echoed in confusion. They'd already ID'd their vic, and considering he was on a table in the morgue, he wasn't 'lucky' by any means…

Doc Robbins gave her a pointed look over the autopsy table. "That _is_ an engagement ring under your glove."

Sara colored slightly as she realized what Doc was actually referring to. "Oh…yeah. Grissom," she answered belatedly, an irresistible grin lighting up her face. "And it's a secret, for the time being."

Robbins nodded. "Fair enough. I hope I'm at least invited," he hinted unashamedly.

"You are," Sara assured with a smile. "Both of you are."

His assistant, David Phillips, was clearly disappointed by her news. He still harbored a hopeless crush on Sara, even though he'd been dating other women too.

But he was happy she found someone, even if it wasn't him. Ever the gentleman, he congratulated her.

"Thanks," she responded sincerely, appreciative of his well wishes for herself and Grissom.

"Congrats on what?" Catherine asked the trio, barging into the morgue as was her custom.

"On the adoption," Sara lied with a nod of her head. "Yeah…no problems so far."

"Good," Catherine answered genially, staring intently at the other woman. She was sure there was more to it than that; something bigger that Sara wasn't telling her.

Oh, but she knew Sara wasn't the type to kiss and tell, so there was no hope digging for info there. She figured Grissom wouldn't spill if his life depended on it. But maybe, if she tried hard enough, she could still drag it out of Katie…

* * *

"They were both _smiling_," she emphasized, as if that said it all. "Nobody _smiles_ about a meeting with Carvallo…well, aside from Eckley. And Hodges."

She stared at the girl staring back at her. "Oh, come on! Throw me a bone! At least tell me that there _is_ something between those two," she pleaded. "I know I'm not imagining it."

Katie just smiled and shrugged. "Sorry."

Her patience depleted, Catherine pointed a rude finger at the girl. "Something's going on between Grissom and Sara, and you know it."

"Even if there was, Catherine, it's none of your business."

She grimaced at the sound of her boss' voice behind her. "You could've told me he was there," she admonished Katie.

Katie remained her innocent self.

"If you're looking for more work, Nick could use a hand with his decomp case," Grissom informed Catherine in a no-nonsense tone.

Catherine gave him a tight smile. "Nope, that's okay. I was just about to go…harass Greg for some test results." She made a hasty retreat, mentally kicking herself for letting Grissom find out she was on to him.

* * *

On a much-needed break, Sara met Grissom in his office for a private discussion of some of their wedding plans. Specifically, whom to invite.

With the rather sad lack of 'outside' friends on both their parts, they mutually agreed their best choice would probably be their co-workers.

Sara mentioned to Grissom the possibility of her asking Brass to walk her down the aisle in place of her deceased father. It wasn't just an offhand suggestion. There had been many times, in fact, when sarcastic but caring Jim Brass had reminded Sara of her own father. She felt it was appropriate.

"But if you take Brass, who's going to be my best man?" Grissom asked.

"What about Jeff? He's your friend."

Grissom shook his head. "Jeff's not invited."

"Why not?" Sara asked, surprised.

"Because the last wedding he attended, he ran off with the bride."

"Oh..." Sara wrinkled her nose. "Never mind."

She suggested Warrick and then Nick, and even Doc Robbins and David Phillips, but Grissom just couldn't picture either of them filling that role for him.

After another vain attempt at brainstorming through her growing annoyance with his inability to decide such a simple little thing, she finally concluded, "Well, you could always ask Greg. I'm sure he'd jump at the chance.."

_Greg? _At first, the suggestion seemed quite absurd. But the more Grissom thought about it, the less odd it began to sound. A smile spread across his face. "That's actually not such a bad idea. Thanks."

"Alright, one problem solved." Sara scribbled Greg's name down on her scrap of paper. Hesitantly, she asked, "Would you think I was a terribly selfish person if I wanted to exclude somebody from knowing about our wedding?"

"No. Who do you want to exclude?"

Sara thought for a moment, figuring the best way to say it. "Well, you know how Nick can't exactly keep his mouth shut sometimes?"

"I know all too well," Grissom answered wryly, recalling one particular serial murder case Nick had accidentally compromised just by having a casual conversation with a former acquaintance.

"We're supposed to keep things quiet until your other job starts, and I'm kind of afraid that if we invite Nick, he's going to blab everything to anyone he happens to talk to."

Grissom finished her thought, "And then others would hear about it, and we'd end up again being the target of Carvallo's wrath."

"Yeah," Sara answered softly, torn between her sense of loyalty to her friends and colleagues, and the need to preserve at least some level of her and Grissom's dignity.

Grissom suddenly grinned at her. "Thank you."

Sara looked at him like he was nutty. "What?"

"That gives _me_ an excuse not to tell _Catherine_," he answered happily.

"Grissom, you're not making sense."

"Catherine has a bad habit of sticking her nose into things that aren't any of her business," Grissom explained. "If she knows we're getting married, not only will she assume she's invited——she'll also try to take over the entire thing. I've been racking my brain to come up with a valid excuse not to invite her. But since you're not inviting Nick, now I don't feel quite so guilty about excluding Catherine too."

Sara was a bit confused by Grissom's uncharacteristic giddiness. "But…isn't Catherine practically your best friend?"

Grissom chuckled in amusement, sliding an arm around Sara's waist and pulling her sideways onto his lap. "Catherine is one of my _oldest_ friends," he said. "But she isn't my _best_ friend. _You_ are, Sara."

Sara smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You're gettin' mushy on me, Griss."

"I don't care." And he stole a kiss.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	40. Chapter 40

"Hey Greg?" Grissom said.

"Yo! What's up, boss?" Greg replied.

"Can you spare a few minutes? I'd like to talk to you."

Greg was immediately alarmed. "Uh oh, what did I do?"

Grissom chuckled. "You're not in trouble," he assured. "I just need to ask a favor of you."

"Oh. Good." Greg relaxed a little. "Okay, what do you need?"

"Can you keep a secret?" Grissom wanted to know.

"A secret?" Greg echoed. "Uh, keep it from whom?"

"From everybody," Grissom answered. "And I mean _everybody_. You can't tell Nick, or Archie, or Catherine, or Warrick...you can't tell _anyone_."

"Can I tell the dust bunnies under the counter?" Greg joked.

"Nobody, Greg."

The grin slid from Greg's features as he studied his supervisor's solemn face. "This is serious, isn't it? Oh god...who died?"

Grissom was becoming impatient with his favorite lab rat. He wiped a hand down his face and sighed. "Nobody died. Can you keep a secret or not?"

"Yeah! Of course! And I was just jerking your chain about the dust bunnies," Greg laughed nervously.

Grissom took a deep breath. "I've asked Sara to marry me," he began quietly.

"What? You've stolen my sweet Sara?" Greg interrupted in mock hurt. "Oh, my poor heart is wounded."

"Greg," Grissom warned.

"Sorry, sorry." Greg grinned mischievously. "Go on."

Grissom continued. "We're planning on a small, quiet ceremony with just a few people attending. Brass is giving Sara away, Katie will be her bridesmaid, and I wanted you to be my Best Man."

Greg was absolutely floored. "Best Man? Me?"

"Yes, you," Grissom answered in slight amusement. "Unless there's another Greg Sanders in here."

"I think I'm gonna cry. No one's ever asked me to be Best Man before," Greg marveled.

"So, will you?" Grissom pressed, almost starting to regret mentioning it in the first place.

"Yeah! Of course! You bet!" Greg hopped off his stool and danced around the room. "This is so cool! I'm gonna be a Best Man!" He stopped dancing after he bumped a counter, almost knocking some very expensive equipment to the floor. "Hey, can I hug you, man?"

"_No."_ Grissom held one hand up in a 'stay back' gesture. He took a quick step back, toward the doorway and away from the DNA tech.

"Why can't I tell Catherine?" Greg wanted to know. "Or Nick? Or even Warrick?"

Grissom considered his question for a split second, answering merely, "Because we're not inviting them."

"Not inviting them?" Greg echoed. "Why the heck not?"

"Because we're not. Simple as that," Grissom informed him. "Now, don't forget. Not a word to _anyone_."

"My lips are sealed," Greg stated solemnly. He closed his mouth, turned an imaginary key, and pretended to toss it away.

"I mean it, Greg," Grissom insisted. "Top secret. You tell a soul and I'll hunt you down."

Greg simply gave him a thumbs-up gesture.

* * *

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Nick asked Greg as he waited for some DNA results.

"Nothing," Greg said immediately, pasting a neutral expression onto his face.

"Uh huh." Nick squinted at him. "You have a secret," he accused.

"No I don't," Greg quickly denied, turning his back on Nick.

"Out with it, Greg."

"Uh uh," he refused. "I can't. I promised. And I was threatened with bodily harm if I told anyone."

"Well who did you promise?" the Texan prodded.

"Afraid I can't tell you that either," Greg responded.

"Hmm." Giving up the interrogation for the time being, Nick took his test results, gave Greg a menacing look, and left the room.

The rest of the day, Greg felt like a specimen under a microscope whenever Nick was around. He breathed a sigh of relief when shift was over and he could go home.

Seeing Sara enter the locker room at the end of the workday, he decided to follow.

"Hey, Sara," he said, peeking around the door.

"Hi, Greg," she answered with a smile.

"Um, is anyone else in there?"

"No...just me," Sara said. "You looking for somebody?"

"Nope." Greg came in and shut the door. "I just wanted to offer my congratulations on your engagement." He looked down at his feet shyly, then looked up at Sara. "Congrats."

Sara gave him a full, gap-toothed grin. "Thanks, Greg."

He returned the grin. "Grissom wouldn't let me hug him. Can I hug you instead?"

Sara laughed. "Sure. Come here."

Greg gave her a friendly squeeze, then sat down on the wooden bench. "This is so cool. The last time I was in a wedding, I was six years old. I was my Uncle Merle's ring bearer."

Sara tried to picture Greg as a six-year-old. _I wonder if his hair was this messy back then, too._

Greg noticed Sara's eyes travel to his hair. "I guess I should get a new style for your wedding, huh? Bleached spikes aren't exactly a traditional wedding-hair choice."

"Don't you dare change your hair, Greg," Sara demanded.

Greg just looked at her. "Huh?"

Sara reached out and touched the professionally lightened tips. "I'll deny it if you tell anyone, but I like your messy spikes. You just wouldn't be you without them."

"You know, Sara...I think that's probably the sweetest thing you've ever said to me."

"I'm sure it's not," she argued with a smirk. "But, whatever."

Greg shrugged it off. "So, when's the big day?"

"Well…we haven't planned that part yet," Sara replied. "I guess we oughta it if it's gonna happen _before_ Katie's adoption."

"Where's Katie at, anyway? I haven't seen her all day."

"She's with David's niece and nephew. She spent last night there, and will be gone tonight too."

"Ah…" Greg replied knowingly. "So 'Mom' and 'Dad' can have a night out, huh?"

Sara grinned, sliding on her sunglasses. "Or a night in."

* * *

_To be continued…_


	41. Chapter 41

A knock sounded on Sara's apartment door, and she opened it to find Grissom leaning casually on the doorframe with one hand in his pocket. "I come bearing gifts," he said, holding up a family-size bag of peanut M&Ms with his other hand.

"Chocolate. Thanks." With a smile, Sara took the bag and planted a kiss on Grissom's mouth.

Grissom shut the door behind him and trailed after Sara as she stepped into the kitchen to search for a suitable candy dish.

She poured the M&Ms into a clear glass bowl and brought it into the livingroom. She set it in the middle of the coffee table, her fingers automatically seeking a yellow candy-coated chocolate piece.

Grissom watched her with an expression of satisfaction. _She doesn't even know she walked right into my trap._

"What?" Sara asked, swallowing one chewed piece and popping another into her mouth.

"Why do you only eat the yellow ones?" he asked simply.

Caught off-guard, Sara looked away in slight embarrassment. "...because I do…"

"But why?" Grissom prodded.

"I, uh…well, it's a silly reason. Not at all scientific."

Grissom gave her a curious look. "Something to do with a childhood experience?"

She nodded, replying only, "Grandma gave me yellow."

"I hope you're going to explain that one for me," Grissom said when she didn't elaborate.

"Well, when I was a kid, my grandma lived near us in Tamales Bay for a while. I was always at her house on the beach more than my own in the summer. And Grandma always had this really big bowl of M&Ms on her kitchen table as a treat for us kids."

Grissom listened with rapt attention. Each time Sara opened up to him enough to confide about yet another aspect of her past, Grissom was eager to hear every word.

"Now, you have to understand that my grandma was a strange woman," Sara continued with a smile. "She was sweet and generous, but very odd. She always let the others take greedy handfuls of her M&Ms, but with me her allowances were different."

"Different, how?"

Sara gave Grissom a gap-toothed grin. "Different, as in she would only let me eat the yellow ones." Off his look, she added, "I told you she was strange."

"What was her reasoning?" Grissom wanted to know. "Why yellow? Why not green or brown?"

"Well, here's the part where science goes out the window," Sara answered. "Grandma always told me that all the M&Ms were good for my brother and the other kids, but the yellow ones were special. _'They're two-thirds chocolate and one-third sunshine'_, she would say. She insisted that the other candies were bad for me because they were dark on the outside, and 'her little Sara' should only ever have sunshine."

Grissom was enthralled with her intriguing story. Sara's grandmother truly sounded like a one-of-a-kind person.

"I guess her unscientific reasoning just kind of stuck in my brain permanently," Sara concluded. "So I eat the yellow ones partly because they're made with sunshine, and partly just in memory of my weird grandma."

Grissom moved closer to Sara on the couch and wrapped a lock of her hair around his finger. "That explains your preference of the yellow M&Ms," he said with a smile. "But why does Katie only eat the red ones? _They're_ not made with sunshine."

Sara gave him a mischievous smile. "You really wanna know?"

Grissom nodded, focusing on her soft brown eyes.

"Because red is her favorite color," she stated simply.

Grissom stared at her. "That's it?" he asked, surprised. He had expected another childhood story similar to Sara's. "That's the reason? Because red's her favorite color?"

Sara laughed. "Yep. She loves red. Says it tastes great."

Grissom narrowed his gaze at her, not at all of the opinion that flavor had anything to do with color. But this was cute, and new to him, so he played along. "And what's my color?" he asked seriously. "If Katie gets red and you have yellow, what do I get?"

Sara considered this with mild amusement. Grissom wanted to be included in her silly little tradition. How adorable.

Smiling, she reached into the candy dish and selected one, holding it up to Grissom's lips. "Blue."

He looked at the small chocolate piece before him. "Blue, huh? And why is that?"

"Your eyes are blue," Sara replied logically. "A much lighter shade than the M&Ms, but hey, blue is blue. Plus, it happens to be _my_ favorite color."

He ate the candy from her fingertips. "Hmmm…blue _is_ nice," he agreed. "But," he added, his voice dropping and his eyes darkening with passion as he slid both arms around her waist. "I think I may have developed an irresistible craving for _'yellow'_…"

Her eyes sparkling at him, she seductively moved closer. "Nothing wrong with giving in to a little temptation."

He brushed his lips over hers, smoothly leaning her back to lay on the couch. "My thoughts exactly…"

------

She yawned, wrapped in her bedsheet and Grissom's arms.

They'd wasted no time in getting from the couch to the bed, dropping clothes along the way. Articles scattered about here and there, mixed haphazardly with elements of Sara's tasteful décor yet somehow not appearing one bit out of place.

Strangely, Grissom's black sock looked right at home dangling carelessly atop a glass figurine on Sara's dresser. Sara wondered if her clothes would look just as comfortable strewn over Grissom's various collections of things. Then she scoffed at herself; what a dorky thing to even think about.

Grissom heard the scoff, and asked what was wrong.

"Oh, nothing," she answered. "I was just thinking your clothes look pretty happy flung all over my stuff."

_Happy clothes?_ Grissom glanced around the room, then looked at Sara with a gaze that plainly said she was nuts.

Sara laughed at his expression. "Oh, shut up."

"I didn't say a thing!" Grissom protested with a laugh.

"You _thought_ it."

"So?"

She didn't respond; just rolled over in his embrace and stretched one arm up across his chest.

His fingers played gently back and forth over her arm. He was perfectly content to cuddle with her for a while after their lovemaking.

"Speaking of your stuff," he began. "…why don't we move some of it to my place? I mean, you're gonna have to sometime anyway; might as well do it sooner than later."

"That's gonna be a chore and a half," Sara muttered. "Moving everything out of my apartment. I _don't_ look forward to that."

"_I'll_ move in with _you_, then," Grissom joked lightly.

Sara scoffed in amusement. "Yeah, that'll work...considering _you've_ got more junk than _I_ do. Wouldn't be able to fit a fifth of it in here."

"Stuff, not junk," he corrected, nuzzling her neck. "And my butterfly collections are very valuable."

"Oh yes...dead bugs are simply priceless."

------

She'd never planned a wedding before, but how hard could it be anyway? You just picked some people to share the joy with, bought a cake and flowers, and dressed up fancy for a day. Right?

Wrong.

Sara was ready to at least tear _someone's_ hair out.

She opened her phone book to the yellow-pages directory, her optimism draining quickly after scanning through all the pages and pages and more pages of churches and wedding chapel ads. She didn't want a church, and the idea of using a chapel grew tackier and tackier with every cheesy ad she passed.

Discouraged with that, she moved on to checking out some flowers. She thought about maybe having some cut white roses for a simple elegance, but quickly vetoed that after finding out just how expensive an order for those fresh flowers would be. And they'd probably shrivel up dry long before they were delivered, anyway.

Sara tossed the phone book at the coffee table, and picked up a bridal catalogue she'd bought on a whim.

She flipped through pages of designer gowns, finding nothing to her liking. Truth be told, the gowns looked ridiculous to Sara. She scoffed, thinking that if those were considered the 'good' dresses, she'd hate to see what ended up in the 'bad' category.

And really, regardless of where she looked for a wedding dress, there was no way she was spending four thousand dollars on a silly fluffball of a gown she'd only wear once in her life. She'd rather get married in blue jeans.

The bridal catalogue joined the heap of phone book on the coffee table, and Sara meandered into the kitchen for a small break.

She was so glad Catherine didn't know about this wedding. Grissom was right——she _would_ try to take over the entire thing, driving Sara to doing far more than just ripping out some hair...

Her cell phone rang, displaying Grissom's number as the caller.

"How goes the planning?"

Sara stood at the sink with an opened beer bottle in one hand and the phone in the other.

She glanced through the livingroom at the discarded bridal catalogue on her coffee table, wrinkling her nose at it. "I don't want a wedding."

Grissom's heart skipped a beat. "You don't want to get married?"

"No, I do want to get married," she assured. "I just don't want a wedding."

Confused, Grissom wrinkled his eyebrows. "What's the difference?"

Sara shrugged a shoulder, not caring that Grissom couldn't see it through the phone. "Money. Gowns. Churches and chapels and flowers and…_nonsense_.

"Okay…" Grissom answered, still not thoroughly clear on what Sara meant. He took a moment, trying to figure it out. "Then…what do you want to do?"

"I want to scrap it all and just get married in the Court House or something."

There was silence on Grissom's end for a few seconds, then he spoke again. "How about tomorrow?"

Sara grinned. "Works for me. Noon?"

"Sure."

"What about the guys?"

"What guys?"

"Greg was supposed to be your Best Man," Sara reminded him. "I think he can handle not being Best Man, but he'll be crushed if we get married and don't invite him at all."

"You're right," Grissom conceded. "And Brass will want to be there, too, even if he isn't 'giving you away'."

"I already promised Doc Robbins an invitation," Sara added. "And David."

Grissom frowned. "Phillips or Hodges?"

"David Phillips, of course!" Sara snorted in amusement. "You think I'd invite _Hodges_ to anything?"

"_You_ thought _I_ was inviting _Catherine_," he retorted good-naturedly.

"_She's_ your _friend_."

Grissom laughed. "Only at work."

"I'm beginning to think you're _never_ gonna tell her," Sara said neutrally. "Not that I care, either way. It's just not going to be a secret forever, you know."

"I know," Grissom admitted. "It's just…Catherine's a little too nosy for her own good. We'll tell her eventually. Just not right now."

------

"She's gonna pass out," Sara predicted. "When she hears we got married and didn't invite her, she'll faint...dead away."

"Frankly, I couldn't care less," Grissom replied happily. Nothing could get him down right now. He was marrying the woman of his dreams...Sara Sidle, who, in Grissom's biased opinion, was more beautiful than a thousand morning sunrises.

"This isn't about Catherine or anyone else," he told her firmly, wrapping his fingers around hers. "It's just about me and you."

"And _me_?" Katie asked, with a teasing lilt in her voice. Of course, she didn't really believe their marriage was all happening just for her benefit——she'd seen so many times how her 'mom' and 'dad' adored each other.

"To a point, yes," Grissom gave Katie an honest answer. "But I think you know by now that I love Sara, regardless of who else is in our lives."

"I know," Katie responded with a dimpled smile, sounding wiser than her twelve years gave her credit for. "This part has nothing to do with me. You love each other no matter what. And I'm glad. Even if I wasn't here now, I'd still be glad for both of you."

Sara gave her a loving squeeze. "You're growing up too fast, kid. Got too much wisdom in that head of yours."

"It's your fault," Katie replied cheekily, knowing full well she'd get away with all of it. "_You_ raised me."

They waited, though not very long, for Greg, Brass, David and Al to show up.

Despite the overall informality of the occasion, the men had all dressed respectfully in suits and neckties.

Sara did wear a dress for her short wedding—a simple little black dress she kept for special occasions. She also let Katie buy herself a special dress of her own choosing to wear.

Grissom raised his eyebrows at Greg's professionally spiked hair. "You just don't have normal hair genes, do you?" he asked curiously.

"Hey, Sara wouldn't let me change it!" Greg defended himself. "I was going to comb it down, I swear! But she told me not to!"

"It's true, Griss." Sara came to Greg's rescue, hooking her arm loosely through his. "I told him to keep his spikes."

Grissom looked back and forth at them, uncomprehendingly. He held up a hand in resignation. "I'm not even gonna ask."

Sara couldn't help but laugh a little at Greg's anxious expression. The poor guy was more nervous than she was, and it wasn't even his wedding. "Greg, it's okay," she soothed. "Grissom has nothing against your hair. All right? You look just fine."

"I'm sorry," Greg apologized. "I'm just a little jumpy today. I'm afraid I'll do something wrong, and mess up your wedding."

"I think the only way this wedding could possibly get any more messed up is if you lost the groom," Sara said lightly. "And I don't think you're in any danger of doing that."

Greg still didn't look completely reassured.

Sara put her hands on his shoulders and held him at arms' length. "Take a deep breath, Greg," she instructed in a soothing voice. "Now let it out slowly. Good. Feel better now?"

Greg actually relaxed a bit. "Yeah. I do. Thanks!"

Sara smiled and patted his shoulder.

"You know, I still don't understand why this all has to be such a secret," Greg said. "What exactly are you guys hiding from?"

Sara looked at Grissom. "Now's as good a time as any to tell them."

And so they explained things to the four guys, from Carvallo's ultimatum to Grissom's decision to resign, and their desire to keep things low-key at least until Katie was permanently theirs.

"We just don't want anybody else to know about us yet," Sara finished. "People like to make a big deal out of things."

Greg still thought they were going a little overboard with it, trying to keep Nick and Warrick and Catherine out of the loop; but he promised anyway not to spill the beans.

------

Grissom literally forgot to breathe as he stood there holding Sara's hand in his own.

Sara elbowed him, and Grissom took in a sharp breath, giving a glare of mock consternation to her. "Behave yourself," he whispered.

She graced him with an innocent smile, her love shining shamelessly in her sparkling eyes.

Grissom couldn't help the smile that tugged at his own lips when he looked at the love of his life standing there with him.

He squeezed her hand, she squeezed back, and together they gave their attention to the Justice of the Peace.

------

"May I, uh, kiss the bride?" David asked bashfully.

"No," Grissom answered quite possessively, frowning at the younger man.

Sara lightly swatted Grissom's his arm. "Yes, you can," she told David with a smile.

Blushing adorably as he always did, David leaned over and very briefly touched his lips to Sara's cheek.

Sara playfully narrowed her eyes as the young coroner stepped back. "You call that a kiss, David?" she demanded. She pulled him near, wrapped an arm around his neck, and gave him a smooch to remember.

Grissom watched in absolute jealousy as his new wife kissed another man. "All right——that's enough," he growled impatiently, taking Sara's free hand and tugging her away from David.

David remained rooted in place for a few seconds longer, his eyes still closed and his senses blissfully numb. That was a kiss he was not likely to forget, ever.

Greg good-naturedly punched him on the shoulder. "Snap out of it, dude," he said with a laugh.

David opened his eyes with a wide grin. "That was one _heck_ of a kiss."

------

To be continued…………


	42. Chapter 42

His kiss-bliss had long since vanished by the time he'd gotten to the lab that evening for the start of his shift. The drive there wasn't the problem——it was actually a rather uneventful drive compared to the usual traffic in Las Vegas.

He was just in a slightly disagreeable mood this evening, having overslept a bit and then sloshed coffee on his brand-new shirt in his rush to get ready for work.

David didn't like being late.

His unpleasant mood dissolved, though, as the day wore on. Bent over yet another dead body on a cold counter in the morgue, he found himself almost smiling. That in itself probably should have removed the smile from any person's face——if that person wasn't David Phillips.

He was in his element. And if his element happened to be dead people, then so be it.

He glanced up as the morgue door opened and a live body walked through. "Hey...how's the 'Mrs.'?"

Sara grinned at him. "The 'Mrs.' isn't quite used to hearing that yet."

"I guess not," David agreed. "It's been less than twelve hours."

Sara's grin remained. She stepped over to David's side of the body cart, holding a paper mask to her face as she bent close to the corpse's upper half. "So, what have we got?"

David's gloved hand passed her a sample jar with two bullets inside. "One from his left shoulder; one from his back. Third wound was a through-and-through, no bullet here, most likely from a close-range shot."

"Great, I'll get these to Ballistics." Sara peered at the bullets, not the least bit disturbed by the blood that was now dried on them.

That was the main reason why David had developed a crush on Sara——she wasn't at all squeamish about her job. Unlike other girls he'd known, Sara Sidle (_Sara Grissom now,_ he reminded himself) was too much of a scientist to be grossed out by such things.

Grissom was a lucky man.

* * *

Little by little, Sara and Grissom and Katie had finally moved everything from Sara's apartment to Grissom's townhouse. Although it was hard to believe that two whole weeks had passed since their impromptu "wedding", Sara's apartment was finally empty of all her belongings.

And Grissom's townhouse was getting pretty full. He hadn't quite realized how much stuff Sara had, even with that cleaning out she'd done when Katie first showed up. Still, it felt good to both of them to see their things mingled together now.

Grissom's spare room became Katie's permanent bedroom——an enormous bedroom, according to Katie. Sure, it was bigger than her bedroom at Sara's little apartment, and infinitely better than the drafty room she'd shared with other girls for the past four years at that orphanage. But in all reality, her new bedroom in Grissom's townhouse was really just of ordinary size.

His rather modest library alcove wasn't big enough to accommodate Sara's large collection of books as well as his, so an entire wall of the livingroom was now covered in Sara's bookcases. Her colorful knickknacks and fabrics and pieces of art dressed up Grissom's bland beige rooms quite nicely.

She didn't tell him so, but Sara had always thought Grissom's home looked far too sterile and impersonal. Almost like a very expensive...hospital room. A change was long overdue.

Grissom joined her for an earned rest on the couch——Sara's couch, which admittedly was much more comfortable to sit on than his stiff leather one. Especially if you wanted to cuddle with someone else on the couch, as was definitely Grissom's intent right now.

Katie, only pretending to be disgusted, covered her eyes with both hands. "Eew! Kid in the room, you know!"

"Then leave the room," Grissom invited cheerfully.

"Aww, poor kid," Sara only offered her a teasing pout.

Katie laughed good-naturedly as she bounced off to enjoy her new bedroom. She knew how blessed she was, having a life this wonderful again. If nothing else, her four years spent in the orphanage made her appreciate even more all the good things she had again in her young life.

* * *

He didn't particularly like children.

He barely even tolerated his own nieces and nephews when they were in town, which really wasn't often but was still too frequent in his opinion.

In truth, the only thing that ultimately kept David Hodges from snubbing Katie Sidle at the Crime Lab was the fact that she was the 'daughter' of the Boss-man.

"Not _really_ his daughter," Hodges reminded himself. "But you know what I mean. _I_ know what I mean."

"Why are you talking to yourself?"

His face reddened, and he turned around to see the newcomer. "Speak of the devil..." he muttered.

"Huh?" Katie asked.

"Nothing." With a sharp eye, Hodges spotted the Boss traveling in his direction.

_Impress the kid, impress the Boss. But how?_

Microscope!

"Want to look at some fibers up close?" Hodges asked Katie in a rush of words. Not bothering to wait for an answer, he dragged her over to a microscope and told her to look into it. He struck a teacherly pose beside her just as Grissom came in.

"Hey, boss," Hodges greeted. "Katie wanted to see cotton fibers through the 'scope."

"No, I didn't," Katie contradicted.

"Shh!"

"Did you get any trace off that scarf I left here an hour ago?" Grissom asked the Tech.

"Nothing yet; still working on it. But you can count on me to find something," he promised serenely.

His face a mask of seriousness, Grissom squinted at him. "You'd probably get more work done if you weren't playing teacher so much of the time."

Hodges' smirk melted into a frown. _Well, that didn't work according to plan._ Disappointed, he watched Grissom leave the room and continue down the corridor.

"I don't think you impressed him very much," Katie couldn't help saying.

Hodges looked down at her. "Be quiet."

Grissom, oblivious to Hodges' attempt, put their brief conversation out of his mind as he punched numbers on his cellphone's keypad. Frowning at the unanswered ringing on the other end, he closed the phone.

He passed by a layout room, backtracking when he spotted a certain brunette standing over some clothing evidence spread out on the table.

He paused in the doorway, watching his favorite person diligently working. "Hey," he said softly.

Sara looked up from a soiled sweatshirt, a magnifying glass in one hand and tweezers in the other. "Hi. What's up?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "Nothing."

She quirked an eyebrow at him before turning back to her work.

"Need a hand?" Grissom offered, really just wanting an excuse to be near her.

Sara looked at the small amount of items spread before her. "Nope," she answered simply.

"Oh," Grissom responded, a bit disappointed. "Okay." He started to step back out of the room when Sara threw him an understanding grin.

"I wouldn't mind some company, though," she offered.

"Brat," he accused affectionately, finally coming out of the doorway.


	43. Chapter 43

Sara finished up with her evidence clothing in the layout room, then she and Grissom headed to another part of the labyrinth known as the Crime Lab.

Nick joined them en route with small and very unhelpful information about their case.

"You don't answer your cell phone," Grissom informed him, more of an accusation than a simple statement.

"Yeah, it's on the battery charger," Nick answered. "Sorry."

The trio soon crossed paths with David Phillips, who gave Sara one of his shy smiles as he passed.

Suddenly remembering a small item that was still in his lab coat pocket, he said, "Oh, Sara?" He walked back toward her, pulling a small pink envelope from his lab coat pocket.

"Did you get a love note?" Sara immediately teased.

"I wish," David answered lightly, holding the envelope out to her. "Actually, I promised my neice Maya that I'd get this to Katie today. She's having a party or something."

"Oh, okay," Sara accepted the envelope. "I'll make sure she gets it. Thanks."

"No problem." And after an awkward little pause he added, "Well, see you later," and quickly left.

Sara poked the little pink envelope into the back pocket of her jeans and turned back to find Nick smirking at her.

"What?"

"He still likes you."

"He does not," she dismissed.

"He _does_. I bet he'd go out with you if you just asked him," Nick persisted. "He likes your kid, too. Bonus."

Sara scoffed at him. "Everybody likes Katie."

"True," he conceded. "Come on, give him a chance."

"Give it up, Matchmaker," Grissom advised. "Find yourself a new customer."

Nick shrugged. "Alright. Just trying to help."

Sara gave Grissom a sideways glance, amusement lighting her eyes. Oh, if Nick only knew the truth...

* * *

Sara found Katie a little while later in Brass' office, sorting out white address cards that were stacked around on Jim's desk.

"Did a rolodex explode?" Sara inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"You could say that," Jim Brass responded in annoyance, gesturing one hand toward his trash can. "Apparently they're not built to survive a simple falling to the floor."

"Apparently," Sara echoed, looking at the mess of broken plastic in the trash.

"The cards went _everywhere_," Katie added with a laugh.

"Oh, look...I found a card too," Sara said casually, dropping Maya's small pink envelope on top of a crooked rolodex stack in front of Katie.

"For me?" Katie snatched it up and tore it open. "A party! I'm invited to a party, mom!"

"A slumber party," Sara said, looking at the invitation too. "For two nights...that's some party."

"What's a slumber party?" Katie wanted to know.

But Sara had never been to one either and wasn't sure exactly how to explain it.

"You sit around in your pajamas, talking," Brass offered without hesitation. At Sara's questioning look, he said, "Ellie had a few slumber parties when she was a kid."

Sara nodded. "I'm sure you play some games, too," she said to Katie. "It does say slumber _party_, not slumber _talking_," she added to Brass with a small laugh.

"Who says gossip can't be a party?" Brass quipped in a knowing tone, returning to his task of re-alphabetizing his mess of rolodex cards.

"Do you have gossip to share?" Sara asked point-blank with curiously narrowed eyes. Not that she necessarily wanted to hear any, but if it involved her or Grissom it might be best to know what's being said.

"I hear Catherine's been fishing for some again," Brass answered, glancing at a grinning Katie out of the corner of his eye. "But I don't think anyone's taking the bait."

Sara rolled her eyes. "I don't know why Grissom doesn't just tell her about us. We're married now; big deal, you know? I guess Griss likes having his secrets."

"What about you?" Brass questioned.

Sara shrugged. "I don't really care if people know about us or not. Grissom's the one who still wants to hide until Katie's adoption goes through."

"I can't hardly wait," Katie put in eagerly at the mention of her adoption.

"Me either, kiddo," Sara answered her with a grin.

"So tell me, is he _really_ taking that teaching job?" Brass wanted to know. "And leaving this crime lab behind?"

"That's the plan," she confirmed. "Obviously, it'll take some getting used to...for all of us. But I think it'll be really good for him. He used to love teaching."

Brass let out a chuckle. "I bet he waits until the last minute to tell everyone about that, too."

"That's just the way he is," she agreed.


	44. Chapter 44

The week breezed by for Katie and all of a sudden she was standing at Maya's doorstep one afternoon with a backpack on her shoulder and a parent at each side.

The door was flung open to reveal two girls Katie's age on the other side. The blonde one, Maya, said, "Hi! Come on!" and practically dragged her inside.

"Ack! Bye!" Katie barely had time to wave as she was pulled out of sight by her energetic friend.

Trisha, Maya's mom and David Phillips' older sister, sidestepped them with a laugh. "Hi, Sara, Gil. Only three girls are here yet and it's a madhouse already."

"How many are you expecting?" Sara asked.

"Eight," the woman answered matter-of-factly.

"Ooh," Sara winced.

Trisha grinned again. "That's exactly what Tom said. Do you want to come in?" she invited.

"No, we can't stay," Grissom answered politely.

"I did want to say thanks for including Katie in the fun, though," Sara said to Trisha. With a grin, she added, "Enjoy your weekend madhouse."

"Oh, it'll be fine," Trisha replied optimistically. "At least it's just girls...better than a houseful of boys, anyway."

"True. Well, I guess we'll see you again in a couple of days," Sara responded, indicating their cue to leave.

"Okay, take care," Trisha offered.

"You too," Grissom returned pleasantly as he and Sara stepped off the porch.

Sara slipped her arm through his as they strolled back to the car. She knew Grissom liked holding hands better, but having her arm linked with his felt just a little more special to her.

He gave her a smile, his gaze lingering on her happy face. He was happy too, and it felt really good.

"Buy you dinner?" he offered before they reached the car.

"Sure," Sara accepted readily. "Where are we going?"

Grissom unlocked the car via his key remote and opened Sara's door for her. "I noticed a little place near the University a while back. Maybe we could try that."

"Sounds good." She let go of his arm to climb into the passenger seat, and allowed him to shut her door.

Grissom got into the driver's seat, started the engine and pulled onto the main road.

As they drove across town, Sara ever-so-casually rested her left hand on the leather console between her seat and Grissom's. The modest diamond on her ring finger sparkled in the light, catching his eye.

Keeping his own left hand on the steering wheel, Grissom reached his other hand over to hers. His fingers caressed the back of hers for a moment, then her hand turned over, palm-to-palm with his, allowing his fingers to slip between hers.

He liked to touch her fingers, Sara noticed, and she liked to let him.

They let go once, to unbuckle their seatbelts and get out of the vehicle. But their hands joined together again as they entered the restaurant and were shown to a table.

They parted again to open their menus.

As Sara perused the menu in her hands, she realized that the meals listed all seemed to be missing a common ingredient.

Usually she skipped over the meat dishes and went straight to the vegetarian selection. But this menu didn't have any meat dishes to skip over in the first place.

"Grissom, is this a vegetarian restaurant?"

He nodded. "You're a vegetarian; I thought you might like this place. "

How sweet. "Thank you," she said sincerely. "What are you going to eat, though?"

Grissom shrugged. "I'll have whatever you order." He was open to trying new things nowadays...and really, how scary could a vegetarian dish be?

They had a fun little dinner. Instead of separate plates, they ordered one large dish and shared it.

Sara coaxed Grissom into tasting a forkful of some round brownish thing that was on her side of the plate.

He was a good sport about it, but Sara could plainly see his eyes tearing up as he quickly chewed and swallowed. Then he grabbed his glass of water and guzzled half of it.

He cleared his throat, then mildly asked, "What was that?"

And Sara, grinning but trying so hard not to laugh at the expression on his face, choked out, "I don't know——I've never ordered this before. Was it that bad?"

He speared another with his own fork and held it up for her. "Try it and see."

She hesitated, looking at it suspiciously. "Hmm."

Grissom gave it a little wave in the air as if to tempt her with its mysteriousness.

"Alright," she relented. "Only for you." She bit the soft round item off the fork and her taste buds were immediately attacked by crippling juices.

She swallowed it half-chewed and drowned it with water. "Jalapeño-stuffed mushroom," she guessed. "With chili powder."

"Well, you can have the last one," Grissom generously told her.

"I think I'll pass," Sara answered, winding some tasty pasta around her fork instead.

"Aside from those mushrooms of death, it was pretty good," Grissom admitted later on the way home.

"Yeah, we know what _not_ to order next time," Sara agreed. "Babe, you get points for trying."

"'Babe'?" he repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"What, you don't like that? How about 'Dear'? 'Sweetheart'? 'Sugar-buns'?" she was just teasing him now.

He laughed. "'Babe' is fine...honey."

She gave a wry grin. "We're corny, aren't we?"

"Yeah," he answered cheerfully. "But I kinda like it."

"Me, too."

Grissom pulled into the driveway and shut off the engine and they both got out. He unlocked the front door and like a gentleman, he stepped back to let Sara enter first.

"Oh, hello," Sara murmured, picking up a handful of mail that had been poked through the letter slot on the door and then pushed aside when the door was opened.

She tossed a magazine onto the coffee table, then flipped through the few remaining envelopes in her hand. Mostly junk mail, but one looked very official.

She tore it open, her heart pounding in anticipation. But the smile slid from her face as she read the words on the page. "What the hell?"

The rest of the mail fell to the floor in a scatter but she didn't even notice.

"Sara!" Grissom's hand gripped her arm. His face blurred from her vision for a second. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Her whole body felt numb as she stood there holding that awful piece of paper in her hand. "Read it," she whispered.

Grissom took the paper from her grasp, eyeing her with concern. He'd never seen her go such a ghostly white before. But as he scanned the page of words, he knew exactly why she'd turned so pale.

Their adoption was suspended.


	45. Chapter 45

Her head was spinning. Her worst fear was happening all over again and she couldn't stop it now any more than she could the first time.

Though not at all prone to fainting, Sara felt herself sway to the side and she gripped Grissom's arm to keep herself upright.

Grissom dragged her to the couch before her legs could give way under her.

"I feel sick," she gasped, collapsing onto the cushioned seat. Her dinner threatened to make a reappearance.

Grissom knelt in front of her, holding her face gently with both hands. "Deep breath. Sara, focus on my eyes; take a deep breath; let it out."

She limply complied, and sunk into the couch when Grissom let go.

"I'm going to call that social worker," Grissom stated, pulling out his cell phone. "It's gotta be a mistake."

Shell-shocked, Sara barely made any effort to listen to Grissom's side of the phone conversation. She just wanted to sit there and cry.

"...okay. Thank you," Grissom finished dully before hanging up the phone. He sat down next to Sara on the couch. "It's not a mistake."

Sara just looked at him, speechless.

"It's everybody," he continued. "Not just us. Somebody filed a complaint against Child Services, and so they've suspended all their adoptions until the investigation is over. They don't know how long it's gonna take. "

Sara breathed a little easier, knowing the reason now. At least it wasn't something they'd caused somehow. "So what do we do?"

Grissom shrugged one shoulder. "Wait it out, I guess."

That was the last thing she wanted to do.

* * *

She jerked awake, her heart pounding in her ears. The sounds of a nightmare immediately began to fade as her eyes adjusted to the silent darkness of the room.

Sara turned over, the movement disturbing Grissom who mumbled in his sleep and shifted the arm that was draped over her side.

She sighed to herself, snuggling up against Grissom's chest and closing her eyes with the intent of going back to sleep.

Fifteen minutes later, she was still awake. She turned her head to see the clock on her side of the bed. Staring at the red digital readout, she watched the minutes change several times.

She sighed again.

Maybe a drink of water would help, she thought. Slowly she lifted Grissom's arm and slid out from under it, trying her best not to wake him too.

Sara tiptoed into the kitchen, grabbing a glass from the cupboard and filling it with cold water from the faucet. She downed the entire glass and left it to dry on the counter.

Darn it...now she was even more awake than before. She'd never get back to sleep at this rate...

She moved into the livingroom, the midday sunshine streaming in through the curtains and lighting the room. Though she'd been doing so for the past four years now, sometimes it still felt strange to Sara to sleep during the day and go to work at night.

She pulled aside one of the curtains with her finger and gazed out, not really paying attention to the usual activity on the street.

A pair of arms slid around her from behind and a voice murmured in her ear, "Can't sleep without you there."

"Sorry," Sara answered softly. "I couldn't sleep anyway."

"You all right?" Grissom asked, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

She dropped her hand from the curtain, letting it sway back into place. "Not really."

"What's the matter?"

She turned to face him, returning the intimate embrace. "I can't stop thinking that this suspension. What if it turns into a denial or something if we have to wait too long?"

"That scares me too," Grissom admitted softly, running his fingers up Sara's spine.

"Isn't there _anything_ we can do?" Sara asked, not really expecting an answer. "I just feel like every day that goes by is another day that Katie can be legally taken from me again."

Grissom pressed a kiss to her lips. "We've just got to wait it out."

"I don't want to wait it out——I want to _do_ something!" Sara burst out. "Why did they have to suspend _every_ adoption case, anyway? What good does that do anybody?"

Grissom didn't really think about his words before they left his lips. "It's best for the kids involved. What other protection do they have if the system doesn't help them?"

Sara stared at him, stiffening in his arms. "Best for the kids?" she echoed incredulously. "Is this _best_ for Katie? Is it best for _any_ kid?"

"I didn't mean that," Grissom denied, unsure of how Sara had misunderstood him.

"What if this suspension crap messes up everything else?" Sara wanted to know. "Something's going wrong with Child Services——who's to say they won't decide _our_ application is null and void and Katie gets put somewhere else?"

"If that happens then we'll deal with it," he answered logically.

"Grissom, I tried that the first time, and I would think you'd remember how well that didn't work."

He thought about it, but he just didn't have the magic solution for her. All he could offer was that again they should wait it out.

"And you're willing to wait through infinity, regardless of what happens," Sara answered, disheartened. "You know…sometimes I wonder if you really do want to adopt Katie as much as you say you do."

Grissom was stunned. He never imagined he'd hear anything like that coming out of Sara's mouth, and certainly not directed at him.

"How can you even think that?" he asked quietly, deeply wounded. His arms loosened from around her and then dropped to hang at his sides. "I _do_ want this adoption, Sara. I thought you knew that."

She was sorry she'd said it. She wanted desperately to take it back, to lie and say she didn't mean it at all. But she just couldn't seem to make her voice convey the chaotic emotions swimming between her heart and her head.

It was on the tip of her tongue to say "I'm sorry"…but all she could do was stare back at him.

Grissom, for his part, did the only thing he could think to do. He retreated.

With hurt evident in his eyes, he stepped away from her. He said no more, and quietly left the room with one final sad glance.

A coldness lingered in his wake, and it swept around her, chilling her to the bone. Sara hugged her arms around herself, turning back to the window, a lone tear trailing down her cheek.

* * *

"Hi," Grissom greeted softly when Sara entered the kitchen the next day.

She gave him a timid, half-hearted smile. "Hi."

He didn't ask why she never came back to bed, and she didn't explain why she slept on the couch.

Watching her, he sat at the table with his coffee cup, waiting for Sara to reach for it and steal a sip as she did every day.

But she slid past him and headed for the coffeepot, pouring herself a full cup of the steaming liquid and drinking half of it immediately.

"I think I'm going to head in early," she said, giving more attention to her coffee cup than she did to Grissom. "Got some stuff to finish up..."

He nodded, not really knowing what to say to her. He wanted to give her a kiss before she left, like he usually did each day, but he wasn't sure at this point if she'd be willing to receive it or not. So he didn't.

Sara took one more sip of her coffee, waiting for Grissom to make the next move. Disappointed, she turned to the sink and emptied her cup. A neutral "Bye" was her only offering as she left the room.

He felt almost abandoned, watching her leave. Of course, she was only going to the Lab and he'd see her there too later on…but it didn't diminish the pain any.

How did things go so sour all of a sudden? He wasn't certain. He just hoped it could be fixed.

He finished his coffee, which had grown almost cold by now, and set the empty cup down on the table. He idly turned the mug in a circle, looking around the rim.

For the first time since his wedding day, Grissom's morning coffee mug didn't have a glossy pink lip print on it.

She'd poured a cup of her own. Sara never poured a cup of her own. But today she did.

He stared at his mug, trying to understand. It was just an absent lip print.

Strange, just how much he missed it.


	46. Chapter 46

She was glad for a chance to hide out in the locker room and take a break from everything. She'd been distracted all day, her mind occupied with thoughts of Katie and of Grissom, and how she'd feel if she ever lost either one of them again.

Thankfully, she hadn't made any mistakes on the job. That was the last thing she needed on top of everything else——to give Carvallo an excuse to fire her regardless of their agreement.

She'd crossed paths with Grissom a few times throughout the day, neither of them speaking to the other. In fact, they'd barely even made eye contact more than twice.

Greg asked once why she and Grissom were giving each other the silent treatment. Sara denied it at the time, but now she admitted to herself that yes, she was giving him the silent treatment.

And Grissom was giving it back to her.

* * *

He saw her exit the locker room and enter the Trace Lab, looking a little more rested than she had earlier.

He watched her from a distance, not unlike times before. A quirk of her lips, an eyebrow raised, any small movement from her captured his complete attention.

He felt conspicuous, staring at her the way he was, and almost afraid she'd turn and catch him yet a little disappointed when she didn't.

He'd almost started to say something to her when they passed once in the lab, but chickened out at the last minute.

Probably just as well. He didn't know what he'd say to her anyway. So he gave her plenty of space; left her alone for the day.

The door he was standing against lurched suddenly, and Grissom recovered in time to step aside, snapping, "Watch it, David!"

"Sorry," David Phillips responded mildly, accustomed to Grissom's occasional irritation aimed at him. "People don't usually block these doors with _live_ bodies." He wheeled an empty gurney around the corner and out of sight.

Grissom inhaled deeply then let it out with a sigh. Almost the whole day had gone by without a sentence spoken between him and Sara.

He hoped——but didn't really expect——that things would be better at home.

* * *

Grissom sat up in bed halfheartedly doing a crossword puzzle. He'd messed up a few squares, scribbled over them, crossed them out again. Didn't matter, because really he was just stalling.

Sara must have been stalling too because she'd been in that bathroom an awfully long time.

The faucet turned on, ran for a minute, turned off. Then silence. He figured she was probably drying her hands as slowly as she could, waiting until she thought he'd be asleep or something before she eventually came out.

Well, that was just too bad.

He was hoping she'd talk to him, even if all she said was 'goodnight'. He missed the sound of her voice. He missed her smile.

He missed _her_.

Finally, she came out of that darned bathroom.

His eyes followed as she walked around to her side of the bed, crawled under the covers, and lay on her side with her back to him.

She didn't say a word.

He looked at her, looked at his crossword puzzle. Suddenly the puzzle only irritated him, and he tossed it to the floor and turned off the light.


	47. Chapter 47

Sara climbed into the passenger seat and slammed the car door shut, releasing some of the frustration she was feeling that day.

"Everything okay?" Brass questioned with a sideways look at her before starting the engine.

"Fine."

"Okay." He didn't press further.

"Grissom's an ass."

Brass chuckled. "That's not news."

"We had a fight the other day." Sara vented to the one who'd somehow become her confidant lately. "And we kinda...avoided each other all day yesterday. And so today I woke up hoping maybe we could talk before work. But that was a little hard to do since he'd already _left_ without even letting me know."

"Hmm."

"Then when I got to the Lab, Grissom assigns me to this scene in the absolute middle of freaking _nowhere_. And do you think he had the gumption to give it to me himself? No! He actually went the extra mile and had a _lab tech_ tell me!"

"Ouch," Brass said sympathetically, turning the vehicle onto the main road to head for their scene.

"Yeah. So he's an ass."

"So this fight you had," Brass backtracked, a little concerned about his friends. "Was it a petty fight or an important fight?"

Sara furrowed an eyebrow. "What difference does it make? A fight's a fight, isn't it?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "Petty fights blow over pretty fast. The important ones tend to last." He pointed a finger at her for emphasis. "And trust me on this——avoidance is _bad_."

She nodded in agreement to that. "It was important. At least to me it was."

"Yeah?" he echoed, encouraging her to continue. He could see that she needed a supportive friend right now.

So Sara proceeded to spill about the letter, the investigation on Child Services, and her fight with Grissom on whether to wait it out or not.

"There probably _isn't_ anything we can do right now," she finished. "It's just...the way he accepted it so easily made me feel like it wasn't important to him after all. And I can't even describe how much that hurt me."

"You need to talk to him," Brass said gently.

"I know." She promised herself that she'd try tonight.

* * *

Grissom stood outside Interrogation Room #1, observing through the two-way mirror as Nick and Catherine confronted a suspect with various pieces of their documented evidence.

His mind wasn't fully on the interrogation at hand——to be honest he was feeling just a little bit guilty about sending Sara off to that crime scene so far away. What if she needed backup or something? Well, at least Brass was with her.

"That your guy?"

The voice at his shoulder made him jump a little, and he silently cursed himself for not paying better attention to the activity around him.

"That's our _suspect,_" he clarified to Greg.

"Right, sorry. Innocent until proven guilty."

"Mm."

"Um, the Sherrif asked me to give you this," Greg said, holding a slip of paper toward Grissom.

Grissom accepted the scrap, knowing even before looking that it was a new casefile. It never ended, did it?

He briefly scanned the paper, considering sending Greg out to investigate this one simple case. But he glimpsed Warrick in his peripheral vision, and went with a better decision.

"Warrick," Grissom called out.

"Yo," About to turn left, Warrick smoothly changed course and veered right. "What's up?"

"You finished your case, right?" Grissom questioned.

"Yeah, an hour ago. Why?"

Grissom handed him the paper scrap. "New one. Robbery at the Flamingo Inn off Fifth."

A robbery didn't sound too dull to Warrick, until he realized exactly what kind of robbery it was.

"A trick roll? You gotta be kidding me!" He protested in insult. "That's rookie stuff; give it to Greg! Can't you use my help on your murder case?"

Grissom's jaw tightened.

Warrick looked pissed; Greg just looked eager for anything.

"You're right, Warrick...Greg is the rookie," Grissom began in an amicable tone.

Warrick started to soften.

But Grissom wasn't in the mood to play nice. "And he can learn plenty helping you investigate this trick roll."

Warrick glared at his boss, clenched the paper slip in his fist, and barked, "Come on," to Greg.

Greg followed, pausing to shoot a concerned glance at Grissom's back. He knew Sara had snubbed Grissom most of yesterday, and now Grissom was being a sourpuss today.

What was going on?


	48. Chapter 48

Katie had kept up a nonstop stream of chatter from the moment she put on her seatbelt until Sara parked the vehicle in a vacant space at home.

Somewhat tired and a smidge cranky from her unsatisfying day at work, Sara felt guilty for only listening halfway. Thankfully, Katie didn't seem to notice in her bubbly recounting of her past two days of endless fun.

They entered the townhouse and Katie went off to display her slumber party treasures in her bedroom, leaving Sara with a much-needed moment of quiet.

She glanced at the clock on the wall, estimating that Grissom should be home too within an hour or so. _I should make a nice dinner for once,_ she thought, remembering there were no more take-out leftovers in the fridge.

_Grissom's steaks should be cooked before they go bad. Yuck._ She grabbed a clean dish towel and gingerly pulled the package out of the fridge, careful not to look at it any more than necessary.

She would recruit Katie to take care of cooking those things. She didn't relish the thought of smelling the T-bone steaks as they cooked in the oven, but Katie liked steak and Sara hoped that maybe it would help break the ice between her and Grissom too.

Sara supervised as Katie rinsed the two steaks under the faucet, patted them dry with a paper towel, placed them in a dish and sprinkled seasonings over the top. Then the steaks went into the oven and the timer was set.

Sara also prepared a fresh salad and set it in the fridge to stay crisp while the meat cooked. Katie went back into the livingroom to watch TV for a while, so Sara remained in the kitchen away from the noise.

She sat down at the table, mindlessly thumbing through a magazine that had been left there. Stifling a yawn, she finally closed the magazine.

She pushed the magazine away, yawned again, and decided to rest her eyes for just a minute.

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Sara woke with a jolt. Glaring at the digital clock on the stove, she realized that 'just a minute' had turned into nearly an hour.

She dragged herself up from the chair, turned off the oven and timer, and removed the dish of cooked steaks from the oven. "Dinner's ready," she called out to Katie as she pulled the salad out of the fridge.

Grissom still wasn't home. Sara thought about calling him. She picked up her cell phone and scrolled through the digital phone book. Her thumb hovered over the 'call' button...then she closed the phone. He probably wouldn't have answered anyway once he looked at the caller ID.

"Where's Dad?" Katie questioned, plopping into a chair at the table.

"I don't know," Sara answered. She handed the phone over to Katie. "Here, why don't you call him?"

"Okay." Katie scrolled through the phone book like Sara had done and hit the 'call' button. She listened for a few seconds before saying, "It went to that voice mail thing," and closing the phone.

They ate their dinner, had ice cream for dessert, and even watched a little bit of TV. And still Grissom didn't come home.

Katie went to bed.

And Grissom did not come home.

Sara was beginning to worry. Even if they still weren't speaking to each other, she thought that he could have at least called to let his family know that he was okay or something if he wasn't coming home yet.

She picked up her phone again and this time dialed without hesitation.


	49. Chapter 49

Detective Jim Brass was just locking up his office after working partway through the dayshift when his cell phone rang.

"Hey, Sara," he greeted, pocketing his keys.

"Hi, Jim," she answered through the phone. "I'm sorry to bother you, but do you know if Grissom's still at the lab?"

"He could be. You need me to track him down?"

"Could you just let me know if you see him? He hasn't come home yet, he didn't answer his phone, and I'm starting to worry a little."

"Hold on——I just saw him," Brass said. He strolled around the corner, his phone still against his ear. He poked his head into the Trace Lab where Grissom was hovering over a nervous dayshift tech.

Jim stepped fully into the room to say, "Gil, go home."

Through the phone Sara could hear Grissom voice an objection. Well, at least now she knew he wasn't lying in a ditch somewhere.

"It'll be here tomorrow," Brass said placatingly to Grissom. "Go home," he repeated. "Get some sleep. And take a shower."

Stepping back into the hallway, Brass said into the phone, "He's fine. And stubborn, but you already knew that."

Sara gave a humorless chuckle. "Yeah...thanks, Jim."

"No problem. See you tomorrow."

"Bye." Sara closed her phone, severing the connection. The worry she had initially felt now dropped away, replaced completely by anger and hurt.

She had to put an end to this silent avoidance mess. It wasn't doing anything but tearing them apart.

Now Sara was even more determined than before that she would have a talk with Grissom when he got home.

_If_ he comes home, she reminded herself.

* * *

He knew he should have showed up hours ago. But he really was not looking forward to the silence from Sara that he was sure would be there waiting for him.

He'd thought about calling to say he'd be late, but he didn't think she'd answer if he did.

Katie would have answered, if she had a cell phone for him to call. _Maybe we should get her one, he thought._

He unlocked the front door quietly, knowing Sara and Katie both had to be asleep by now. The slight smell of cooked meat lingered in the air, making Grissom pause.

Sara never cooked meat. In fact, she grumbled any time he cooked it too.

He took a peek into the fridge. Sure enough, there was one of his steaks seasoned and cooked and sitting in a covered dish.

He shut the fridge, more confused than ever.

He stepped over Katie's discarded shoes in the livingroom and made his way to the master bedroom.

The door was partially open and from the dim light filtering in through the curtains he could see the shape of Sara stretched out across the bed.

He tiptoed further into the room.

Sara lay atop the bedspread, fully clothed except for shoes. Her upper half was on Grissom's side of the bed; her legs bent on her side.

He didn't want to wake her up; she slept so little as it was. But there was no way he'd be able to get into that bed without disturbing her.

He crept closer, reached past her, and grabbed a pillow.

Then he exited the room, closing the door with a soft click.

Sara's eyes opened in the darkness. She sniffled, and wiped away a tear.


	50. Chapter 50

Nick and Grissom stood on opposite sides of the table in a layout room, looking over an assortment of crime scene photos when Catherine joined them.

"Ms. Willows...so nice of you to finally grace us with your presence."

Catherine scoffed lightly at the obvious sarcasm. "Well, excuse me for having a flat tire."

"You're an hour late," Grissom snarked at her unforgivingly. "A flat tire takes only minutes to change."

"Did I mention that traffic was horrible getting here?" Catherine bristled back at him, put off by his surly tone. "And what's with the crappy mood lately?"

"Hey, can we just get back to work?" Nick cut in before Grissom could respond again.

"Gladly," Catherine responded with one final half-hidden glare at her boss.

Warrick glanced at the trio as he passed the room, still feeling a little bit slighted because his expertise apparently wasn't wanted on their big murder case.

He continued on to another layout room where he was sure he'd receive a better welcome.

"Hey, girl," he greeted as he sauntered through the doorway.

"Hey," Sara answered, returning a dingy t-shirt to its paper evidence bag and began processing another article of clothing.

"Need any help?" he questioned simply.

"I thought you had a case already?"

"Nah, just a trick roll," Warrick dismissed. "Cracked it in no time."

"Okay, well...I've done the jacket and shirt, and I've got the jeans right here. You can have the shoes," she offered generously, nodding toward a fourth paper sack on the far end of the table.

"Alright." Warrick put on a pair of rubber gloves and opened the sack. "Whew! Need to drop some Odor-Eaters in there."

Sara laughed. "Enjoy."

"Always gettin' the short end of the stick," Warrick grumbled good-naturedly as he got to work examining one shoe.

After a little bit of silence, Warrick ventured, "Have you noticed Grissom's been in kind of a bad mood lately?"

"Um, I...haven't really...talked to him lately," Sara stumbled over her answer, her face flushed all of a sudden.

"I just wondered if you knew what's going on with him."

"Your guess is as good as mine," she evaded, hoping he'd drop the subject.

* * *

Sara was actually having a pretty good day.

She still hadn't spoken with Grissom yet, but Warrick's presence and partnership on her current casefile kept her distracted enough to prevent dwelling on it.

But Warrick took off for some food on their late lunch break, leaving Sara alone with her thoughts once again. And her thoughts just couldn't help but return to the subject of Gil Grissom.

It didn't help that she had a clear view of him right now as he stood in the DNA lab with his back turned toward her.

God, she missed him. Three days without your best friend is three days too many.

"Hey," a voice said behind her.

She turned slightly to see Jim Brass now standing with her. "Hi."

"Did he ever come home yesterday?" Brass asked quietly, indicating Grissom.

"Came in really late," Sara answered. "Slept on the couch. And left for work again before I even got up today."

"Been there, done that," Jim acknowledged sadly. "Sorry it's happening to you, too."

He didn't tell her that things would be all right, or that she and Grissom would work it all out, or even that love is strong enough to survive anything. Because when Jim's marriage also ended many years ago, he found out personally that those are just words, and nobody really can be sure of any of them.

"I still haven't been able to talk to him," Sara lamented. "Every time I start to, either someone else gets to him before I can...or he just disappears."

"I take it you haven't told Katie about the suspension yet, either," Brass surmised. "She still looks happy as a clam, like always."

"I haven't told her," Sara confirmed. "How do you tell a kid who's got her heart absolutely set on it, that she might not get adopted?"

Engrossed in their conversation, both Brass and Sara failed to notice the brown-haired young girl standing in the doorway with a crestfallen expression on her sweet face as she heard those dreadful words.

With a backword step Katie retreated from the room, her mind spinning with the terrible thing she'd just heard about her adoption. She could lose everything all over again and nobody could do a single thing about it?


	51. Chapter 51

"Been doing a little time travel, Nick?" Grissom asked sharply.

"Time travel?" Nick echoed in confusion. "What——"

"I figure that must have been the only way tomorrow's date ended up on some of _today's_ evidence."

Nick paled as he recognized his handwriting on the dated and initialed evidence bag Grissom held before him. "Damn it," he breathed. "I'm sorry, Gris——"

But Grissom cut him off again. "We can't afford to make mistakes here. Next time, if you don't know what day it is, _look at a calendar._"

Nick's jaw clenched. He felt like a scolded child.

Catherine and Greg, out of awkward sympathy, just looked away.

Nick grasped the evidence bag that Grissom thrust at him. Grabbing a black pen to match his earlier ink on the evidence bag, he quickly changed the "11"——tomorrow's date——to a "10"...today's date. Then he handed it back silently.

Grissom, satisfied with that at least, snapped an insincere "thank you" back at Nick before fuming off down the hallway.

"Can I shoot him?" Catherine muttered, glaring daggers at Grissom's back. "And put him out of our misery?"

"If tomorrow is anything like the past few days have been," Nick answered darkly. "Please do."

Greg said nothing. He had witnessed Grissom's erratic behavior for three days now, and he knew for a certainty that Grissom wasn't the only one suffering from his apparent personality transplant.

"Tell you what," Nick added to nobody in particular. "If he keeps that up any longer, I'm gonna look into transfering to another lab or something." With that, he turned on his heel and left the room.

Catherine followed, leaving Greg standing there alone.

He looked in the direction his friends had gone, then turned back to watch Grissom disappear down the corridor.

On impulse, Greg started down that same path Grissom was on. He had absolutely no idea what he'd say to Grissom if he caught up, but he knew that someone needed to.

Still at a distance, he saw Eckley walking closer from the other direction, looking to flag Grissom down. But Katie also appeared suddenly from off to the side and intercepted him first.

The girl had an anxious look on her face as she barraged Grissom with questions that Greg couldn't quite hear. He quickened his pace, getting just close enough now to catch the tail end of Katie's questioning.

"What happened?" Scared that her dream bubble was going to burst, Katie didn't realize how much more stress she was piling onto Grissom just then. "Can't you fix it? Was it something I did?"

Her rapid-fire questions were giving him an equally fast headache. Finally he couldn't take it any longer.

"Just stop!" he yelled. "I don't know what to do! Can't you understand that? _I don't know!_ Just…leave me alone!"

Stung by his words, Katie stared at him. He'd never yelled at her before. Never even raised his voice to her.

But he might as well have slapped her in the face just now.

She wasn't scared; not even alarmed. She wasn't afraid of Grissom no matter what he did or said.

She was just hurt. She knew Sara wanted her, and she thought Grissom did too. But if he yelled at her to leave him alone, maybe she was wrong...

Her lips trembled and she clenched them together. A hint of defiance flashed in her green eyes, replaced immediately with bright tears that she refused to let fall.

Hanging onto her dignity, Katie squared her jaw, lifted her chin, and turned her back on Grissom.

She stalked past Greg and Eckley, and disappeared through the nearby door of the locker room without a backward glance.

He hadn't meant to lose his temper at her. Now he'd hurt both Sara _and_ Katie.

Heavy-hearted, Grissom pressed his fingers against the migraine that was starting to build up and sought refuge in the dark of his office.

* * *

Katie heard the door open, and hastily scrubbed at the wetness on her face.

Footsteps sounded on the concrete floor, and then Conrad Eckley sat down next to her on the metal bench. He offered a little smile to his young friend, but didn't receive much of one in return this time.

He pulled a clean folded handkerchief from his suit jacket pocket; offered it to her silently.

Katie dried her eyes, wiped her nose, took a deep breath to ward off hiccups.

They both sat there on the bench, side by side, staring at the same row of grey lockers.

At length, the elder spoke.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head. "It's a secret."

"Oh, I see."

She sniffled, saying no more.

But she was tired of secrets.

Tired of hiding.

Tired of keeping a brave face...pretending everything was fine when everything was not fine.

More tears came.

There were just too many secrets.

And Katie was tired of keeping them.


	52. Chapter 52

His office door slammed open, and slammed shut.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Grissom?"

He looked up into a pair of furious eyes as Greg Sanders stormed in.

"You've got a bug up your ass about something," Greg stated bravely (or stupidly; he wasn't sure which). "And it goes a hell of a lot deeper than this murder case."

Grissom just glared at him, stone-faced, sitting behind his desk. "Whatever bug may or may not be up my ass is none of your business, Sanders."

"It's somebody's business when you hurt the people around you for no reason at all. Grissom, you've been biting everyone's heads off for _three days_."

"Excuse me for not babying my CSIs," he snapped back. "If they can't handle discipline, they shouldn't be here."

"And you prove my point."

"Get out of my office, Greg."

"You even made Katie cry," Greg responded coldly, ignoring the dismissal. "She's just a kid! The Grissom I look up to would never have done that."

"Get out."

"Nick's just about ready to quit."

"Leave." Grissom pointed at the door.

"And Catherine joked about shooting you——Well, I assume she was joking, anyway."

Grissom stood up. He'd remove Greg by force, if necessary.

But Greg stubbornly faced him head-on. "Even Sara's been moping around like you did something to her."

_Sara._

Grissom's whole body seemed to wince at that name. He deflated, all the fight gone out of him in that instant.

He looked helplessly at his youngest CSI prodigy; apparently the only one with enough gumption to stand up to him.

Softly, Greg asked, "What's going on, Grissom?"

Grissom sank back down into his chair, silent.

When he finally responded, it was so quiet that Greg almost didn't hear him.

"I think my marriage is falling apart."

"What?" The anger drained from Greg's face and demeanor, replaced with nothing but absolute sympathy. He dropped into one of the two chairs placed before Grissom's desk. "Why?"

Grissom sighed deeply. "Our adoption has been suspended until further notice."

Greg's brows knitted together. "Suspended? Why? What happened?"

"Somebody filed a legal suit against Child Services. All pending adoptions in the county are suspended, not just ours," he clarified. "But I said something about it that Sara took the wrong way…and she hasn't said a word to me since."

Greg said nothing. What could he say?

"I don't know what to do," Grissom confessed. "If Sara loses Katie again…I'm afraid I'll lose Sara for good."


	53. Chapter 53

He kept a neutral expression but groaned internally when Day Shift's Supervisor Conrad Eckley sauntered into his office with that seemingly perpetual sneer on his face.

Eckley ignored Brass' reluctant greeting and got right to the point. "I know about Grissom and Sidle."

Brass remained silent. He'd wondered how long that secret could be kept before Eckley found it out. But on the chance that he was merely bluffing in hopes of digging up dirt on the couple, Brass played it dumb.

"And what about 'Grissom and Sidle'?" he asked in a tone of disinterest.

Eckley gave him a pointed look. "I know they got married. I know they're adopting Katie together. And I know you've been helping them. "

"You seem to know a lot of things," Brass countered smoothly, annoyed that this conversation was taking place. "So what are you gonna do, rat 'em out to Carvallo? Don't waste your time; he already knows."

Eckley knew everyone on the night crew considered him a snitch in all things. Most times it didn't bother him. But sometimes, deep down, it almost hurt a little. Especially when he was trying to do the right thing like he was now.

Knowing already that Brass would be less than cooperative with him, he tried a different avenue. "Look, I know their adoption is suspended."

"So?"

"Who approved the suspension?"

"What do you care who it was?" Brass evaded, not at all anxious to hand over any and all information to Conrad Eckley, of all people.

"I'm guessing it was probably Judge Ronald Fairbanks."

Brass' silent glare confirmed it for him.

"Well, don't let his name fool you. Fairbanks is a hardass——strictly by-the-book," Eckley informed him knowingly. He reached to the far corner of Brass' desk, tore the top page from a note cube, and snagged an ink pen from the nearby cup.

He spoke as he wrote down a name and phone number. "Judge Marilyn Banner serves in the District Court. She's good with kids and I'm sure she'll give Katie a fair chance." Eckley dropped the pen back into its holder and tossed the note square onto Brass' desk.

Brass ignored the scrap of paper for the time being. "Why do you care?" he asked again, a little more curious now than the first time he asked the question. "You've _never_ stepped up to help Grissom or Sara before——why start now?"

Eckley didn't respond to that. What good would it do anyway? He got up from the chair, signalling the end of their impromptu meeting.

But Brass answered his own question, "Oh, that's right——you were adopted too."

Well, that was part of it. A very small part.

"Look," Eckley began, not really caring if Brass believed him or not. "Katie's a sweet kid. She deserves a decent life. And no, I can't imagine Sidle or Grissom being an ideal parent for anyone...but at least they're trying with Katie and who am I to argue with that?"

"Oh, by the way..." Eckley turned in the doorway to face Brass once more. "Don't tell Grissom or Sidle that I know about this. If they know that I got involved, and Katie still doesn't get adopted...you know exactly who they'll _blame_ for that."

He had a point there. And much as he despised the thought of Eckley having control of anything, Brass also knew that if he was as sincere as he claimed, he was probably Katie's last hope. If he really could convince this other judge to consider it...

"You just better pray that she _is_ adopted," Brass growled.

* * *

Katie stayed in the locker room a little while longer after Eckley had gone. She took a few refreshing sips of cool water from the fountain before exiting to track down Sara.

Taking a few turns here and there through the labyrinth of the lab, she now found Sara in the Audio/Visual room with Archie, listening intently to some strange-sounding recording.

Not wanting to interrupt or disturb either of them but still wanting to be near her mom, she came in and quietly leaned on the back of Sara's chair.

Sara felt the back of her seat move slightly and she glanced up at Katie's subdued face. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked in concern.

"Can I talk to you?" the girl requested softly.

"Yeah," Sara answered, already rising from her seat. "Let's go in here," she said, leading Katie to an empty room across the hall.

"Is it true?"

"Is what true?" Sara asked, her concern for the child quickly growing.

"My adoption," Katie clarified shakily. "Has it really been stopped?"

Sara's heart skipped a beat. "Who told you that?"

"I heard you and Mr. Brass talking," the girl confessed.

She said 'Mr. Brass', Sara noticed. Not 'Uncle Jim' anymore. Was Katie already distancing herself from people to make it easier on herself in case she had to leave them this time too?

"It's been suspended for a little while," Sara explained gently. "But it's not stopped. It'll pick up again soon and we can finish it then."

"How soon?" Katie prodded.

"...I don't know," Sara answered honestly. "It could be days...it could be weeks. But it's nothing that you did, and it's nothing that Grissom and I did. Someone filed a lawsuit against the Las Vegas Children's Services and because of that, they've put all the adoptions on hold for a while until it's resolved."

Katie couldn't help asking one more question. "They're not going to take me away, are they?"

"No," Sara responded firmly. "They're not. They have no reason to. I'm still your foster mom. And Katie, even by blood relation, I'm also still your Aunt Sara. And as far as Child Services is concerned, you have a right to be with your aunt even if she's not your legal guardian."

Those words of hope sounded so good to Katie's ears that she burst forth with fresh tears of relief. She wrapped her arms around Sara's middle and with her tears she released all the agony she'd been in for the past hour.

Her sobs finally subsided, and plagued now with the occasional hiccup Katie also told Sara about Grissom's vocal eruption at her.

Sara was livid. She wanted to track Grissom down right now and give him a good healthy smack upside the head. This really was the final straw. She was going to have a talk with him no matter what it took.

But Katie didn't look like she wanted to see Grissom again for a long time now. Or at least not for the rest of the day. "Can we just go home?" she asked in a sad little-girl voice.

"Yes, we can go home," Sara allowed, putting her arm around the girl's shoulders protectively and guiding her out of the room. There was still about half an hour left in the workday, but Sara didn't care in the least. Her priority was Katie and repairing some of the damage that the poor child was feeling.

She ducked her head back into the A/V Lab to let Archie know she was leaving.

"She okay?" Archie questioned.

"Yeah. Just, uh, girl stuff," Sara fibbed. "Umm...show Warrick what we've got; have him listen to it and see what he can figure out. I'll see you tomorrow."


	54. Chapter 54

Katie trudged off toward the couch as Sara locked the door behind them.

She had a tendency sometimes to hang onto the hurt, Sara knew. And with the reasons behind this particular hurt, Sara didn't blame the child one bit for still feeling like she did.

Sara pulled out her cell phone. She scrolled through the menu, selecting the 'text' feature. A text message would display on Grissom's cell phone screen whether he wanted it to or not. This way, he couldn't ignore her call.

She typed in, _'We need to talk'_...but that just didn't sound right. She deleted the characters, replacing them with _'Please come home'_. Then she sent the message before she could talk herself back out of it.

She closed her phone and joined a sullen Katie on the couch.

Not much time had gone by when they heard a key turning the lock on the front door. The door opened, footsteps were heard, and the door shut.

Katie immediately left the livingroom as soon as Grissom came in, and she shut her bedroom door behind her without even looking at him.

"She's still mad at me?"

"You yelled at her to leave you alone, Griss. What'd you expect?" Sara turned off the TV and picked up a magazine. She'd intended to have a much-needed discussion with him about the past few days and especially today's events...but now that he was actually here, somehow she was losing some of her anger with him.

"Well at least _you're_ talking to me now," Grissom muttered.

She didn't respond to that. Just half-heartedly flipped through the pages of her magazine.

He sat down beside her, leaving two feet of space between them on the couch. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Are you sorry?"

His choice of words put her on the defense, and it reflected in her tone. "Sorry for what?" The nerve of him——she hadn't done anything she needed to apologize for. _He_ should be the _sorry_ one.

"That you married me."

That surprised her. She looked up from her magazine and turned her head to study the man beside her. He looked tired, weary, sad. But most of all he looked like the man she was in love with.

"Why would I be sorry about that?" She asked softly.

"If you hadn't married me, the adoption wouldn't have taken so long and you might've gotten Katie legally by now. You'd have your daughter and you'd be happy."

Sara stared at him. Was he serious? "I _am_ happy, Grissom. With you I'm happy. And I _do_ have Katie. I'm still her foster mother; they granted me that when I first began the adoption, and that hasn't changed."

He'd forgotten about that. Somehow it just seemed forever ago that Katie had bounced back into their lives. "Do you think they'll leave it that way, even with the suspension on the adoption?"

"I don't know why not; I'm also her relative," Sara reminded him. She'd sort of already had this conversation with Katie but Grissom needed to hear it too. "If a child in the system has a known living relative, usually Child Services will attempt to place the child with that relative first. Finding the _best_ home is not their priority; there's way too many kids in the system for them to be that picky. The goal is to place kids in good homes, not in perfect ones."

"This _is_ a perfect home for me. And even if you can't _adopt_ me, I still want to live with you."

They both turned at the sound of Katie's voice to their left. She'd come back out of her room and was standing there in her open doorway, listening.

She continued, "A foster kid is good enough, if that's all I can be here. But if they put me somewhere else I'll just run away again."

Katie gave them both a level, solemn look. "I know I get in the way sometimes. And I probably bug you more than I should. I just…" Her eyes pricked with the threat of tears and she faltered. Quietly, she finished, "I want a home. I want a family. And you're the family I know. I don't want anybody else."

Sara's heart went out to her. With a sting of moisture in her own eyes, she opened her arms to this twelve-year-old who was growing up much too fast.

Katie climbed into Sara's lap, not really caring that she was getting too big for it. Sara cuddled the girl in her embrace, much like she used to do when Katie was little and needed comforting.

"We don't want you to go anywhere else, either," Sara assured her. "Neither of us do. And I'm _not_ sorry I got married," she added with a firm look into Grissom's eyes.

Grissom offered Sara a soft half-smile. He gave Katie's shoe-covered foot a gentle tug, saying, "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"Sorry I made you yell," Katie returned evenly but without looking directly at him. She wasn't letting him off the hook entirely this time. She would have liked a reassuring hug from the man she thought wanted to be her dad, but she wasn't going to ask and it didn't look like he was going to offer.

So she stayed put, safe in the arms of the one she called "mom". She knew without a doubt that at least Sara truly loved her unconditionally, even if nobody else ever did.


	55. Chapter 55

Sara indulged Katie's need for comfort, and continued to hold her until the girl eventually drifted off to sleep. Sara couldn't blame her for being so tired; she'd had a very hard day.

Sara yawned, feeling a bit sleepy herself now. She also needed to use the bathroom.

Somehow she had to get up, but she didn't want to wake Katie and she really didn't have the strength or leverage to just stand up from a reclined position with the dead weight of a half-grown person in her arms.

Too bad Grissom had gone off to take a shower. He could have easily picked Katie up off her lap.

She could still hear the shower running, but suddenly it shut off. She faintly heard the shower door shut, then a moment later a dresser drawer was pulled open.

Grissom was out of the shower. Maybe she'd get her rescue yet.

Her bladder was starting to protest. She had to alert Grissom somehow to come bail her out. She couldn't shout for him because again, that would wake the sleeping child in her arms.

She looked around, wondering what to do.

Her cell phone sat on the end table a little ways from the couch. Stretching her arm really far, she could just barely reach it without moving Katie too much. Her fingertips gripped the edge and she scooted it close enough to grab.

With one hand she managed to type 'Help. Can't get up,' and sent the message to Grissom's cell phone. She just hoped he had his phone with him in the bedroom, otherwise she'd have to wake Katie after all.

She waited. A minute later her phone vibrated with a new text message. 'Hold on,' was Grissom's simple reply.

By the time Grissom finally appeared in pajamas and bathrobe, she was getting desperate.

He carefully picked up Katie, freeing Sara.

Sara bolted up, whispered a 'thank you', and nearly ran for the bathroom.

Grissom gave a soft chuckle, then carried Katie into her bedroom. He tried to pull back the covers on her bed but it was too awkward with both arms full. So he just laid her on top of the comforter and covered her with the blanket from the back of the couch.

He brushed a wayward curl off Katie's cheek, watching her sweet innocent face as she slept.

He didn't want to lose her either, any more than Sara did. He still felt bad for making her cry and think she was so unwanted. He just didn't think before he lost his temper.

He bent and gently kissed the girl's forehead. "Goodnight, my Katie-bug." He straightened and turned to leave, only to realize that Sara was now standing there in the doorway.

Katie must have learned from Sara how to eavesdrop in doorways, Grissom thought to himself.

Sara stepped back to let him exit the room and close the door. As he passed her, she caught his hand with hers.

"Grissom..."

He waited, looking into her pretty brown eyes.

"Don't sleep on the couch tonight," Sara requested softly.

Those were just the words he needed to hear.

Their hands still together, he drew her to him, wrapping his arms as tightly around her as they would go without hurting her.

Sara wound both of her arms up around his neck, holding onto him just as tightly.

"I've missed you," Grissom murmured in her ear, caressing her slender back.

She closed her eyes, breathing in the scent of his freshly-washed hair that was still a bit damp. "I've missed you, too."

She loosened her grip, pulling back just enough to look into his blue eyes. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I overreacted that day," Sara said. "I shouldn't have said what I said to you...that you didn't seem to want the adoption. I was scared...and I took it out on you. And for that, I'm sorry. I know you love Katie."

"I'm sorry too, for the things I said," Grissom offered sincerely. "Sara, promise me something."

"What?"

"From now on...whatever happens, we face it together." His eyes searched hers, and he didn't bother to mask any of the pain that might be on his face. "Don't shut me out again."

Sara pressed a kiss to his lips. "As long as you don't shut me out either," she promised.


	56. Chapter 56

He'd hit the snooze button three times now on the alarm clock. He didn't want to get up; there was a woman lying in his arms clothed in a red satin bedsheet and nothing else.

The alarm blared once more, and like a hammer Grissom's fist came smashing down on the snooze button again.

Sara heard the distinct sound of plastic cracking, and for some reason it struck her as funny. "I think you broke it," she told Grissom, laughing.

"I was trying to stop time," he quipped.

"Did it work?"

He craned his head to look at the clock. "Nope."

Sara lifted her head to see the time, too. "I need to shower."

But she made no move to get up either. She stretched and smothered a yawn.

Neither of them had gotten a lot of sleep, since they'd spent much of the time making up...over and over.

Grissom's fingers skated up her naked back.

"No tickling," she warned.

He put on his innocent face. "Who's tickling?" And his hand pounced on her side.

She squealed and rolled away, taking the sheet with her.

A rush of cool air replaced her spot at Grissom's side, and he quickly grabbed at the remaining blanket as Sara stood and wrapped the sheet fully around herself.

Sara tugged playfully at a corner of the blanket. "You need a shower too. I think it's big enough for both of us in there."

"I just had one yesterday," he reminded her.

"But that was before," she tossed back with a grin and a quirk of her eyebrow. "This is after."

He'd really missed this playful side of Sara. He grabbed her hand that was pulling at his blanket, and he dragged her back down next to him on top of their rumpled bed.

With a kiss, he silenced her squeal of laughter.

* * *

Sated by their lovemaking and refreshed from their subsequent shower, the couple strolled into the kitchen to satisfy a different kind of hunger.

Sara went to a cupboard and pulled down a box of cereal, then grabbed the half-empty jug of milk from the fridge. Armed with a bowl and spoon, she made her serving of cold cereal disappear quickly before Grissom had even gotten the coffeepot started.

"What?" she said to Grissom's raised eyebrow as she filled her bowl again with another helping of cereal. "I'm hungry."

He just gave her an innocent look and didn't say anything.

When the coffee was brewed, Grissom poured himself a cup, then set it on the counter so he could pop two slices of bread into the toaster.

But when he turned back to his mug of steaming brown liquid, it was gone.

"Where's my coffee?" he asked, his gaze scanning over the countertop.

"On the table, where you left it," Sara answered over her shoulder as she left the kitchen. She was now heading for Katie's room to make sure the girl was out of bed and getting dressed for the new day.

Grissom turned around and looked at the mug on the table.

That was not where he'd left it. And yet there it sat.

He gave a suspicious glance at Sara's retreating back.

Taking the handle of the mug, he turned it around to see the other side. And he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.

That glossy lip print was back.


	57. Chapter 57

Sitting on the edge of her bed, Katie tied the shoelace on her right sneaker and then made a quick work of the left one. At the soft knock on her closed door, she answered, "Come in."

"Good morning," Sara greeted, poking her head into the tidy little bedroom.

"Good morning," Katie automatically returned the greeting, but feeling much less cheerful than she made the effort to sound.

Really, what good was this morning? It was just another day...no closer to being a permanent resident of her family, and no farther away from bearing the un-special but technically true label of 'foster kid'.

She followed Sara mutely to the kitchen, choosing a box of cereal before sitting down at the table with a bowl and spoon and the nearly empty jug of milk.

"Good morning," Grissom offered from where he sat across the table with his coffee and toast.

Katie answered him as automatically as she had with Sara just a few minutes ago. But the 'good' in front of the 'morning' still had yet to reveal itself to her.

She forced a smile merely for the benefit of these two that she called her parents——they were doing the best they could, after all, to make her theirs.

Silently eating her cereal under the calm pretense that everything was just fine, Katie steeled her feelings with an inner resolve to stop getting her hopes up and somehow learn to accept reality.

She was almost thirteen years old. It was time to grow up and stop living in a dream world.

* * *

Catherine Willows strolled alongside Nick Stokes as they made their way to the ballistics lab.

"Great," Nick cringed as he spied their supervisor coming toward them through the same hallway. "Better run, Goldilocks, 'cause here comes the big bad wolf."

"I think you're mixing up your fairy tales there, Nick," Catherine replied. "Besides, if he tries to pick a fight with me today, I'm gonna let him have it."

Nick ignored Grissom as well as he could. Prepared for the worst, Catherine faced him head-on.

But as he passed, all that Grissom said——and in quite a pleasant manner, too——was, "Good morning, Catherine...Nick."

They both stopped in their tracks, turning to stare after him.

"Guess he's back to normal?" Nick ventured, relieved.

Catherine twitched an eyebrow as she turned back to keep walking. "Well...normal for Grissom, anyway."

"Hah," Nick laughed, falling into step again.

* * *

Greg glanced at the door as someone walked in, and he did a double-take after seeing the person's facial expression.

"You're smiling."

"Yes, Greg," Grissom acknowledged neutrally.

"That's either a good thing or a bad thing," Greg stated in all seriousness.

"Why would it be a bad thing?" Grissom questioned.

"Could be an evil smile."

"It's not an evil smile," Grissom assured him.

Greg squinted at him a moment. Yesterday Grissom had been a total grouch. He should still be grouchy today, too. Unless...

"You got some last night!" Greg concluded a bit loudly.

"Greg!"

"Sorry," he apologized. In a lower voice, he asked, "So you patched it up with Sara?"

Patiently, Grissom answered, "Yes."

"And Katie?"

"I think so."

"Good. And you're giving me a raise?" Greg couldn't help adding impishly.

Grissom laughed. "Nice try. "

Greg shrugged, grinning. "It was worth a shot."

* * *

"Hey, you okay?" Warrick greeted abruptly as Sara walked into the A/V lab to continue her work from the day before.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Sara asked, pulling out the chair next to him and sitting down.

"Archie said you had to cut out early yesterday."

"Oh...yeah. Katie wasn't feeling good, so I took her home." She wouldn't elaborate on it, because doing so would also spill the beans about everything she and Grissom were still keeping under wraps together.

"She alright now?" Warrick persisted.

"Yep, she's fine. Thanks for asking. " Changing the subject, Sara asked if he'd listened to any of the audio tape she and Archie had been working on.

Warrick turned his focus back to the work at hand. "Yeah, I think it's two people arguing and then what sounds like a shotgun blast. Here, I'll cue it up," he added, flipping a few switches on the soundboard to let Sara listen.

* * *

"Hi, Katie," Nick called from inside a layout room as Katie passed by the door.

The girl paused. "Hi, Mr. Stokes."

"'Mr. Stokes'?" Nick echoed in surprise. "What——I'm not 'Uncle Nick' anymore?"

Katie shrugged a shoulder. "You're not really my uncle," she said simply.

"Not even by adoption?" Nick prodded with a half-smile.

Adoption. That word used to mean something to Katie, something really great and magical. Now it was just a word that meant nothing.

"See you later, Mr. Stokes," Katie repeated, turning to leave.

Nick watched her disappear, a little frown on his face. "But I liked being your uncle."

Further on down the hallway, Katie entered the DNA lab.

"Hi, Mr. Sanders."

Greg's gloved hand paused in mid-air at the greeting. "Okay, that makes me feel old. You can drop the 'Mr.' part."

"Just 'Sanders' then?" Katie questioned with some amusement in her voice.

"Yeah, you can drop that part too," Greg decided quickly. "I don't go by my last name like Grissom and Eckley do."

"No problem, Mr. Greg," she quipped with a little smirk.

Greg laughed. "What can I do for you, shorty?"

"I'm bored," was the simple answer as she sat on a stool.

"Oh. Well, um... " Greg looked around the DNA lab to see if there was anything likely to entertain a near-teenage girl. "Oh, here we go," he said, pulling a small hand-held game unit from a drawer and turning it on to see if the battery still worked. "How about that?" he said, offering it to Katie.

"Sure." Katie accepted the game solemnly.

She seemed different. Greg couldn't put his finger on it, but something had changed in the girl's usual demeanor. It wasn't until later, when she'd quietly left after playing the game for a while, that Greg realized what was different.

Her happy spark of life was gone.

* * *

Leaving Warrick in the A/V lab, Sara strode through the hallway with a small mission in mind when a hand suddenly reached out from a dark doorway and pulled her inside.

But before she could voice any sound of surprise or protest, a pair of warm and familiar lips brushed softly across hers. And just as quickly, the touch was gone.

She couldn't really see him; it was pretty dark. But she could hear his light breathing, and her skin was already tingling from the anticipation of another touch.

Apparently, he was waiting for her to make the next move.

She reached one hand out in front of her, her fingertips quickly making contact with the cotton fabric of his polo shirt. Grissom had gotten a bit leaner lately, and Sara could feel some definite muscle on his chest and stomach under that thin shirt.

She smiled to herself, a few vivid images from last night still fresh in her mind.

Her other hand raised up level with the first one to enjoy this nearly blind tactile exploration. Her hands journeyed up until they reached his collar, then they moved to caress his unshaved cheeks.

She leaned in, and felt his arms encircle her waist as her lips found his again in the darkness.

Her eyes still hadn't adjusted much against the unlit room, and her lack of good vision had therefore heightened her other senses a little to compensate. So she felt, more than saw, the affection in her lover's embrace.

Sweet and delicious at first, their kiss ignited with a sudden fiery passion.

"What's gotten into you?" she asked breathlessly, her body melting against his.

"Gotta make up for a crappy week," Grissom murmured against her neck.

"Technically, it was a crappy three days," Sara responded matter-of-factly, running her fingers through his hair.

"Felt more like a month."

"Yeah," she agreed. "Well, let's not ever do that again," she said, leaning into him again. "Deal?"

Grissom stole another kiss before answering, "Deal."

* * *

Sara waited a minute after Grissom left, then she exited the room herself. Straightening the rumpled ends of her shirt and hoping there wasn't a tell-tale flush to her cheeks, she nonchalantly headed for the place she'd originally been going before she got waylaid by her favorite bugman.

"Sara!" Nick said a bit too loudly right behind her.

"Ah!" Startled, she jumped a little and turned to face him. "You trying to make me deaf?" she scolded lightly with a forgiving grin.

"Sorry. Hey, is Katie okay?" Nick asked, his Texan accent deepening a little in his concerned tone of voice.

"As far as I know," Sara responded. "Why? Did she say something to you?"

Nick furrowed one eyebrow. "She insisted on calling me 'Mr. Stokes' today instead of 'Uncle Nick'."

"She's growing up," Sara said, not untruthfully. "Maybe nicknames are a thing of the past."

"She still calling Grissom 'Dad'?" Nick questioned to make his point.

Sara considered that. "For now," she allowed. _For his sake, I just hope he's not counting on forever,_ she added silently.

Deciding not to press further at least for now, Nick allowed the subject to drop. "Alright...well, see you later."

Sara felt bad for him. Nick really liked Katie, and it must have hurt him to think that she now wanted to withdraw from their friendly bond.

But there wasn't anything she could do about that. With a sigh, she continued on her trek.

She passed an empty room, a grin gracing her face as she recalled that other dark room she'd been pulled into by Grissom just a little bit earlier.

She came to a stop in one office doorway, waiting patiently as her friend and confidant finished up his phone call.

"Thank you, Your Honor," Brass was said into the phone, indicating the end of the conversation. "Have a nice day."

He deposited the phone receiver onto the cradle before looking up at the glowing face of Sara Sidle-Grissom.

"You look happy," he observed matter-of-factly.

Sara gave him a smile. "We made up," she said simply. No other words were needed; the joy in her eyes said it all.

Brass grinned. "Glad to hear it. Hey, in celebration of that, I've got something for you."

"What's this?" she questioned, taking a scrap of paper he offered.

"Well, I'm hoping it's the Great and Powerful Oz to grant your wish," Brass answered with a grin.

Sara kinked an eyebrow at him in confusion. "What——you're giving me a guy behind a curtain?"

"More like a judge in a court room. One who might be able to help you adopt Katie right now."

Sara looked at him soberly. "You're not kidding, are you?" But it was a statement, not a question.

"Her name is Marilyn Banner, and she's agreed to hear Katie's adoption case if you and Grissom and Katie make an appointment to see her."

Stunned, Sara examined more closely the name and phone number scrawled on the scrap of paper clutched in her hand. "How..."

Brass shrugged. "Just having the right connections."

Sara felt almost lightheaded at the sudden prospect of adopting Katie after all. She needed to find Grissom and share this wonderful news with him.

"There is a catch," Jim let her know. At Sara's questioning look, he added, "If it turns out that she does still deny immediate adoption...you may have to start over again. The whole adoption process, from the beginning, after a period of time has passed."

And just as quickly as they were raised, Sara's hopes were dashed again.

But if this judge could really make it happen, she just had to take the chance...

* * *

He was trying to be supportive, but this really went against his better instincts. A judge's name on a piece of paper wasn't any kind of proof that they'd get the help they needed.

"Look...I don't need your permission," Sara let him know in case that was unclear in any way. "And I'm not asking for it. What I _am_ asking is that you just trust me on this."

But Grissom was still torn; his gut was telling him to wait and not mess anything up while his heart wanted the angst to just end right now.

"I can do this without you, Grissom...just don't make me have to."

Her words cut him a little; she could see it in his eyes. But she wasn't backing down——not this time. Her lack of action the first time had lost her Katie, and she was not going to let it happen again.

She reached out and touched his hand, silently letting him know he wasn't being abandoned this time just for having his opinion.

Grissom allowed her fingers to join with his. He stared at their clasped hands, thinking. Really, what was the point of joining forces against the world if you couldn't manage to stick together in a crisis?

"Call her," he said quietly, hoping she was right. "And whatever happens," he reminded her. "We face it together."


	58. Chapter 58

Four days later, Sara was a nervous wreck. What if this was a mistake? What if Grissom was right? What if they really should have just waited it out?

_Stop it_, she reprimanded herself. _Don't start doubting yourself now. Breathe. Focus. Collect evidence._

She tweezed a long strand of hair from the nap of thick carpeting and placed it inside a small brown envelope.

Sara glanced at her watch again. She added the evidence envelope to her kit, closed the metal flight-style case, and carried it into the next room. "Hey, Cath. I've gotta leave."

"You're bailing on me?" Catherine looked at her almost in disbelief.

Sara gave a half-smile. "Sorry. There's someplace I have to be right now."

"Dumping a crime scene for a playdate," Catherine wisecracked. "I hope he's worth it."

Sara scoffed. "It's a 'date' with a court of law who decides if I can keep Katie or not."

"Oh, wow. Sorry," Catherine retracted. "Bet you're nervous, huh?"

"I...am terrified." Sara responded. "If the judge denies the adoption, I'll have to wait at least six months and then start the whole process all over again from the beginning."

"You'll do great," Catherine assured her. "You're Sara Sidle——kickass extraordinaire."

"Right," Sara laughed. "If only that would solve everything. You gonna be ok without me?"

Catherine looked around their crime scene. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll make Grissom help me."

"Actually, he's going to be at the courthouse too. Sorry."

With an exaggerated sigh, Catherine pulled out her cell phone. "You're not stealing Warrick too, are you?"

"Nope, he's all yours," Sara answered with a smile. "Have fun," she offered before leaving.

* * *

She was scared to death.

This was it. The day she'd been wanting for so long. And now that it was finally here she just wanted to hide under a rock until it was all over with.

Her heart skipped a beat when they approached the double doors dividing them from the courtroom. A man in uniform standing guard by the doors opened one for them to enter.

Katie looked up at the two adults standing on either side of her. They were nervous too; she could tell.

She tightened her grip on Sara's hand, and reached out her other hand to grab onto Grissom's.

He squeezed her hand, looking down at her anxious face.

Katie peered over her shoulder at Jim Brass, who stood just behind the trio.

Brass gave her a wink, saying, "You'll be okay."

She wasn't so sure of that.

She could feel the judge's eyes on her as they walked to a row of bench seats at the front of the courtroom, and the scrutiny didn't help at all to allay her nerves.

But the judge——a large woman with dark hair and dark skin——offered her a little smile, and Katie found herself attempting a weak one in return.

Her stomach lurched, and she silently prayed that she could keep from throwing up.

The proceedings seemed to go by in a blur. Random bits of questioning stuck in her mind to tease and torment.

Judge Banner asked Sara, "Katie was removed from your care four years ago, correct?"

"She was kidnapped, Your Honor," Sara clarified. "By her grandparents——her former guardians who then left her at an orphanage in Montana."

"And you have proof of this?"

"I have copies of the documentation that was filed with the orphanage at that time," Sara answered. She handed the file to the bailiff who passed it to the judge. "As you can see from these papers, Katie's guardianship was legally renounced to the orphanage at that time," she continued, covering all her bases.

"Clearly," Judge Banner agreed, looking over the documents.

Then she asked Grissom a question or two, but Katie couldn't focus on his answers. She was too busy trying to keep her lunch down. Through the ringing in her ears, she even heard Brass give some comments on his point of view... a 'character witness,' she recalled him saying earlier.

Then all of a sudden the Judge was looking at her again. "Katie?"

She froze. They expected her to speak? She couldn't!

_You have to!_ she told herself.

She swallowed the dry lump in her throat and squeaked out, "Yes, ma'am?"

"I'd like to hear from you. Can you tell me what you think about this adoption?"

She swallowed again. Where was a glass of water when you needed one?

Everyone was waiting for her response. Sara gave her an encouraging look; Grissom gave a concerned one.

"I want to live with my mom and dad," Katie answered softly. "They're my parents...the only ones I've ever had. The only ones I want." With tearful eyes she looked up at the Judge. "Please don't take them away from me."

"They're good to you?"

"They're the best to me!" Katie said with feeling. "I wouldn't have tried so hard to find them again if they weren't." Glancing again at Sara and Grissom, she added, "They'd do anything for me...and for each other. And I'll do anything I have to do to stay with them."

Judge Banner considered that soberly. After a lengthy pause, she finally announced, "I have made my decision regarding the adoption petition of Miss Katie Sidle by Mr. and Mrs. Gil Grissom." She made a point of briefly looking each one of them directly in the eye.

Sara's fingers clenched the edge of her seat.

Grissom willed his heart to stop pounding.

And Katie held her breath...


	59. Chapter 59

"Thank you, Jim," Grissom said, shaking the police Captain's hand as they exited the Courthouse and headed for the parking lot. "For everything. If you hadn't found us this judge, I don't know where we'd be by now."

"Actually," Jim Brass replied. "It wasn't all me. Your help came from...well, a very unlikely source."

"From who?" Sara questioned.

Brass grinned. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Jim," Grissom warned. "We want to know who it was. Are you going to tell us or not?"

"Okay, okay. Don't say I didn't warn you, though." Brass looked around and motioned them to lean closer. "Two words: Conrad Eckley."

"Eckley!" Sara exclaimed.

"How did he know about it?" Grissom asked in confusion.

Brass smirked at his friend. "Eckley's not as dumb as he looks, Gil. He _is_ a CSI, in case you forgot."

Grissom twitched an eyebrow, as if to silently contradict Brass' statement.

"He's here, you know." Brass indicated a point behind Grissom and Sara, where Eckley stood in front of the court house doors talking with an ecstatic Katie. "Snuck into a back seat in the courtroom. Somehow he found out about everything and actually offered to help. He told me about this judge because he knew she'd be fair to you."

"He's known all this time that Grissom and I are married? And he didn't give us any trouble about it," Sara wondered. "And why would he want to help us?"

Brass grinned. "Well, he didn't really want me to tell you, but Eckley actually approves of what you two are doing, making a home for Katie and all...and I guess he's got a little soft spot for her anyway, since he'd been through it too."

"What do you mean?" Grissom questioned.

"Eckley was orphaned at a very young age, too," Brass began. "Passed from relative to relative over a few years' time, which didn't help him any as far as discipline went. He eventually got so bad nobody wanted him. But one day, this couple showed up at the Children's Shelter where he was staying. Really nice people. Very kind, generous. Said they wanted to adopt young Conrad."

"Surprising," Sara commented.

Brass nodded. "Anyway, it wasn't even a month before he showed remarkable progress. He was obedient, considerate, and an all-around good kid." He shrugged a shoulder, adding, "All he needed was a stable environment and some unconditional love."

Jim Brass looked across the parking lot to where Conrad Eckley now sat on the curb. Katie was sitting next to him, still talking and gesturing animatedly. Eckley listened with genuine attentiveness to what she was saying, with a little smile on his face.

"I guess he saw this as a way of giving back," Brass concluded. "Giving another kid a chance for happiness."

After processing this new information about her less-than-favorite colleague, Sara silently left Grissom's side and walked over to Eckley and Katie.

Katie smiled up at her, a beautiful and love-filled smile. "Hiya, mom."

"Hey, sweetheart." Sara ruffled her hair affectionately. Then she swallowed her pride and turned to Eckley. "Look...umm, Brass told us what you did to help Katie...finding this judge for us. I just wanted to say thank you."

Eckley accepted her thanks, standing and shaking her offered hand. "No problem, Sidle."

Sara held up her left hand to show him her wedding ring. "That's Grissom, to you," she said with a smile.

"Right," Eckley smirked. "Speaking of Grissom..." he lowered his voice just a notch, his curiosity still piqued. "I thought it would take another world war before Gil Grissom would retire from the Crime Lab. It's…shocking, to say the least."

"Yeah, well…it was his choice to leave," Sara answered. "And I'm backing him up one hundred percent on it." She was amazed at the ease with which she and Eckley were conversing. It was a welcome change from their occasional clashing, and she hoped it might continue when they had to start working together regularly when she'd join Day Shift.

"Sara!" Catherine's voice traveled across the parking lot as she weaved quickly between the cars. She joined the small group with Nick, Warrick, and Greg on her heels. "Eckley? What are you doing here?" But she waved away any explanation he might have given. "You left your cell phone off, Sara. I've been calling and calling. What did the judge say? Do you get to keep her?"

Sara held Katie's hand in her own, and gave Catherine a smile that would put the stars to shame. "No one's gonna take her away this time."

Catherine emitted a joyful squeal and gave them each a quick, enthusiastic hug. "That's great!"

Grissom now approached his wife and their colleagues. In front of everybody, he slipped an arm around her waist. "Hey there," he greeted her, leaning in for a kiss.

Sara happily obliged, to the astonishment of all the onlookers.

Warrick's jaw dropped. "Whoa…"

Nick could only stammer, "Wha——?"

Catherine merely gaped at them, a little disgusted and too shocked to even ask what was going on.

Greg snickered. "Close your mouth, Catherine. You'll catch flies."

Sara grinned at the expressions on everyone's faces. Leaning into Grissom's side, she said casually to their colleagues, "Oh, did we forget to tell you? We're married."

Grissom just nodded to them in confirmation.

Warrick was the first one to recover from the surprise. "Aww...congrats," he said, genuinely happy for them.

Catherine rounded on Katie. "You little imp! You told me there was nothing going on between those two!"

"I promised I wouldn't tell!" Katie defended herself, laughing at Catherine because she simply couldn't help it. "But isn't it just so awesome?"

"I didn't even know you were _dating_," Nick said, sounding almost apologetic for not knowing it.

Grissom shrugged. "We hid it well."

"Now he really _is_ your dad," Warrick said to Katie, pleased for her. His smile faded as he noticed Eckley standing by. "What's he doing here?" he asked, mildly suspicious.

Katie gave a dimpled smile to Eckley. "He helped so Mom and Dad could adopt me."

Nick raised an eyebrow at her in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?"

Eckley smirked at him. "I'm not the bad guy all the time, Stokes."

Nick considered that. "Hm."

"_When_ did you get _married?"_ Catherine demanded of Grissom. "And _why_ wasn't I invited?"

"It was about a month ago," Grissom answered simply. "We got married at City Hall. It wasn't a big deal."

"City Hall!" Catherine exclaimed. "What the hell kind of wedding is that?! You should have told me——I could've planned the whole thing for you!" She threw her hands in the air in a wordless gesture that Gil Grissom was a hopeless dolt.

Nick turned to Warrick. "A month ago. Tell me, how did we not notice that ring on Sara's hand?"

"Dude, we never saw Grissom's ring either," Warrick added, looking at the band of gold shining on his boss' left hand.

"Well, we did wear gloves a lot at work," Sara answered with a little smirk. "I guess you were just oblivious the rest of the time."

Greg burst out laughing at the priceless looks on their faces. "And you call yourselves investigators! Hah!"

"Our ceremony was small, but it was perfectly fine," Sara added with a smile for Grissom. "Besides, what really matters is we love each other."

"So, who was there instead of us?" Warrick wanted to know. "You had to have two people witness the ceremony and sign the marriage license. Who did you have?"

Sara guiltily pressed her lips together and looked down, refusing to meet Warrick's eyes.

Hoping to avoid having to answer at all, Grissom said, "I'm hungry. Let's go someplace and celebrate the adoption." He wrapped his fingers around Sara's, giving her hand a gentle tug as he turned towards the parking lot.

"Freeze, Bugman!" Catherine hollered. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Grissom and Sara and even at Katie. "I wanna know who was there instead of us."

Sara looked up at Grissom from the corner of her eye. "You know she's never going to drop it until we tell her."

Grissom sighed and nodded. "Brass," he mumbled.

"Brass?!" Nick whined. "You picked Brass over us? Uh, no offense, Jim."

Brass grinned, not offended in the least. On the contrary, he was enjoying this scene immensely.

"And David," Grissom added.

"…and Doc Robbins," Sara finished.

"Oh, this just takes the cake," Catherine muttered. "Who was your bridesmaid——Greg?"

"Hey!" Greg hollered indignantly.

"Not that it's any of your business," Sara snapped, quickly growing annoyed by Catherine's dramatizing of everything. "But Katie was my bridesmaid."

Brass nearly choked on his laughter. "Greg was Best Man!"

Greg grinned. "Yep."

"Oh my _god!"_ Catherine screeched. She closed her eyes and dramatically raised a hand to her forehead. "Catch me, Warrick——I'm gonna faint."

Warrick caught her just before she hit the ground.

"I told you she'd pass out," Sara laughed to Grissom.

"I guess it's not a good time to tell her I'm retiring from the Lab, too," Grissom ventured with a furrowed eyebrow.


	60. Chapter 60

**Epilogue**

A few students in Dr. Grissom's Forensic Science and Entomology class talked amongst themselves about the dark-haired woman in the back of the classroom who was silently absorbed in a thick paperback novel.

"_I've_ never seen her here before," one girl whispered to her friends. "I don't think she's a student. Maybe she's a new teacher or something."

"Of course she's not a _student_, Marcie!" a blonde girl said with a roll of her eyes. "She's way old! I mean, look at her——she's gotta be…like…_thirty!_"

A short redhead perched on top of the blonde's desk spoke up. "That's Dr. Grissom's wife, you dummies! Her picture's on his desk." She pointed to a small wooden picture frame at the corner of the teacher's desk. "See? Right there. Dr. Grissom, his wife, and their daughter."

"Even if she's as old as thirty, isn't she still kinda young to have a teenage daughter already?" the first girl wondered.

"She probably got married in high school or something," another girl piped up. "My parents did."

"Only 'cause you were already on the way," the blonde stated knowingly.

"Oh shut up," her friend huffed, turning her attention elsewhere.

Some other students threw paper airplanes back and forth, and one young man was writing furiously in his notebook in an attempt to finish the homework he had neglected.

But the class immediately quieted when Dr. Grissom entered. Chaos quickly turned to order as people ceased their talking and dashed for their respective seats.

Grissom twitched an eyebrow as he spotted the beautiful brown-eyed woman sitting in the back row, with the soft chestnut hair and unique gap-toothed smile.

Sara closed her book with a grin and waved her fingers at her husband.

Grissom chuckled to himself as he walked to the front of the room and set a slim briefcase on his desk.

"Good afternoon, everyone," he greeted the class with a smile.

A handful of students returned the greeting as everyone pulled out their textbooks and notebooks, ready for the afternoon's agenda.

Sara was impressed with how smoothly Grissom instructed his students, and how quick and eager they were to learn.

They all seemed to absorb the material quite competently, but if someone didn't understand something, Grissom would patiently explain it in simpler terms until they did understand.

Sara was proud of her bugman.

Occasionally, Grissom would ask a trick question that nobody raised their hand to answer. The first time it happened, Sara smirked to herself and couldn't help putting her hand up.

Grissom resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Yes, you in the back," he called, feigning ignorance of her identity.

In one collective movement, everyone turned around to look.

Ignoring the inquisitive stares of Grissom's twenty students, Sara smartly gave the correct answer and explained why it was a trick question.

Grissom threw her a smile. He was proud of his sneaky Sara.

He called on her a few more times throughout the class, but only when no one else offered an answer.

Seemingly all too soon, the bell sounded and class was over. Students loudly shuffled papers and books and backpacks, but not a single one dared leave the room without Dr. Grissom dismissing them first.

"I want you to read pages two-forty through two-fifty-three in your textbooks this weekend, and we will discuss those pages on Monday," Grissom told the class. "Thank you and have a good weekend."

Everyone made a mad dash for the door, talking in a jumble of loudness again now that they were free to do so.

Grissom tossed a few things in his briefcase and sauntered over to Sara, helping her up from the cramped student desk.

Sara normally would have ignored his helping hand and easily slid off the seat herself. But due to her growing middle encumbering her movements lately, she was coming to appreciate her husband's thoughtful (even if a little overbearing) attentiveness.

Sara's pregnancy had been an unplanned surprise to them all, but was quickly welcomed with happy anticipation by each of them. She was now on a long maternity leave, after finding it difficult to complete any part of her job without either becoming sick from the usually ignored smells in the lab and at scenes, or being in potential danger from something or someone. It was just easier and better to take a break from it all for a while.

"What are you doing here?" Grissom asked, sliding an arm around her and leaning down for a kiss. "I thought you'd be taking your customary nap this afternoon."

"Word on the street is there's a good-looking forensics professor at this university," Sara answered with a wink. She patted her rounded middle and added, "Emily and I thought we'd come and see for ourselves."

"Word on the street, huh? You sound like Greg."

Sara shrugged, grinning widely.

"Well, if I see any 'good-looking forensics professors' around, I'll be sure to send them your way," Grissom teased back. "But I'm afraid the only professor in this classroom is the old man you married."

Sara put her arms up around his neck and kissed him deeply. "You're not old, Griss," she said seriously. "And you _are_ awfully cute."

Her kiss had an odd but familiar flavor. After the second one, Grissom pulled back slightly to look her in the eye. "Have you been dipping your broccoli into chocolate syrup again?" he asked suspiciously.

Sara nodded with a guilty smile.

"Honey, that's gross," Grissom laughed.

"It's not my fault! This kid of yours is making me crave really disgusting things." She unwrapped a peppermint candy disc and popped it into her mouth. "Like those barbequed ribs you made last night. Nasty."

"Well for their being so disgusting, you sure enjoyed eating them," Grissom retorted good-naturedly as he followed Sara out of the classroom and locked the door behind him. "Just wait till everyone in Vegas knows that Sara the Vegetarian ate _meat_," he added with a wink.

Sara laughed at him. "Right. And then I'll make sure everyone knows that Dr. Grissom the insect-lover _squished a bug_."

"That was an accident," he defended himself with a little pout. "I didn't see Fred on the floor until it was too late. My poor Castiarina Erythroptera."

Sara patted his arm sympathetically. "It was a quick death——I'm sure Fred didn't suffer."

"How did you get here, anyway?" Grissom questioned, changing the subject. "Your car's still in the shop, and I know you didn't walk your beautiful self all the way here in your condition."

"Catherine dropped me off. She came over at noon and helped me finish that wallpaper in the nursery," Sara answered, linking her arm with his as they strolled side by side through the deserted hallways. "We made good time, too. Got here just about ten minutes before your last class started."

Grissom looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "You know, I'm still surprised that Catherine forgave us as easily as she did, for not inviting her to our wedding."

"I'm pretty sure the fact that she got your job as supervisor helped a little with that," Sara answered matter-of-factly. At the broaching of that subject, Sara peered at Grissom just a little bit unsurely and asked, "Are you never sorry you gave up your old life?"

Grissom stopped walking and turned to look at her. "Are you kidding? I have a good job here, Sara, and I really enjoy it. But most importantly, I've got a beautiful and brilliant wife, a great adopted daughter, and another little baby girl on the way." He wrapped both arms around Sara and kissed her soundly. "_You_ are my life now. Honey...what I've got, I wouldn't trade for anything in the world."

Sara gazed up at him with adoring brown eyes. "Aww...I love you."

"And I love you." Grissom brushed away a spontaneous tear that had escaped Sara's eyes. "Hormones, and all."

Sara gave him a mock punch on the shoulder, but threaded her arm through his again with a smile.

As they resumed their walk to the parking lot, she lightly bumped her hip against Grissom's and teased, "You know, I couldn't help noticing how many young, pretty girls are in your class."

"Really?" Grissom responded with a smile. "Hmm. The only pretty girl _I_ noticed was the one in the back who kept raising her hand to show everyone how smart she is."

Sara gave him a shameless grin. "Just trying to be your star pupil."

* * *

"Here she comes," Sara pointed from her perch against the car's front fender. They both waved to Katie as she crossed the schoolyard and headed for the parking lot.

"Hey!" Katie said happily as she approached her parents, brandishing a white envelope. "I got a report card today."

"And judging by the grin on your face, I'd say it's really good news," Grissom said warmly.

"You bet!" Katie pulled a sheet of paper out of the envelope and held it up for both adults to see. "All A's! Well...except for gym class, cause I'm not that good at sports. But other than that B, I got all A's!"

"That's my girl," Grissom replied proudly. He gently tugged one of Katie's dark curls and pulled her into a fatherly hug. Then he released her into Sara's waiting arms.

"We're so proud of you, honey." Sara beamed with delight as she wrapped her arms around the young girl.

Katie hugged back, firmly but carefully so as not to hurt the baby at all. "Oooh!" she giggled, pulling back from Sara's middle. "Emily kicked me."

"She wants to join the fun," Sara chuckled, patting the spot the baby had kicked.

"Sorry, sweetie," Katie said to her unborn sister. "You gotta wait just a few more weeks."

Ever the helpful daughter, she held open Sara's door to the car as Grissom helped Sara squeeze gingerly inside.

Then Grissom slid behind the steering wheel while Katie hopped into the back seat.

"Your Aunt Cath and I got the nursery walls papered today," Sara told Katie. "Maybe you and I can bribe your dad into taking us shopping again tomorrow," she added with a sweet smile for Grissom.

A wide grin spread across Grissom's face——his usual reaction of late whenever he was referred to as a father and a husband. Eight months had passed now since his wedding day, and he was still on that figurative Cloud Nine. He was a hundred percent in love with his wife, and wasn't afraid to show it anymore.

In stark contrast with the lonely years before, Gil Grissom's life now held a phenomenal feeling of love and belonging, and he blissfully cherished every second of it.

"Shopping sounds like fun," he immediately agreed to Sara's suggestion. Not because he liked shopping (he really didn't), but because it gave him an excuse to show off his family to the world.

"Awesome!" Katie answered enthusiastically. As a 'big-sister-to-be', Katie had been given the honor of choosing the nursery's decor. To Sara's initial dismay and Grissom's pleased amusement, Katie had chosen a theme of bugs.

Grissom and Katie shared a strange love for insects, and he seemed to encourage it every chance he got. Now he was getting an early start introducing them to Emily, too.

Sara didn't really mind anymore. She figured any kid of Grissom's would probably love bugs anyway, no matter what she had to say about them. But if nothing else, she would at least make sure the house had plenty of butterflies and dragonflies to balance out the spiders on that weird new wallpaper in the baby's room.

With thoughts of her growing family in her head, Sara turned partially sideways in her seat to look at her husband as they headed home.

Grissom eyed the smile on her face. "What?" he asked curiously.

The smile remained as Sara shook her head. "Nothing." Fading sunlight bounced off her wedding band as her hand lifted to brush lovingly through the salt-and-pepper curls at the back of Grissom's neck. "Just wondering if anybody has a right to be this happy."

Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, Grissom's other hand gently caught hold of Sara's fingers. He pressed a kiss to the soft skin on her knuckles, then slipped his fingers between hers. "Funny, I was wondering the same thing."

Katie watched Grissom and Sara with a tear of happiness in her eye, her heart bursting with joy at the knowledge that her once-naïve childhood dreams had finally come true. She now had a mom and dad that she really belonged to, and her new baby sister would be born in a few short weeks.

In Katie's eyes, life was perfect.

Now if she could just convince her parents to get a dog...

The End.


End file.
